BASIC DUES PACKAGE SHORTAGE IN AWO

By Rihanat Adekola and Tosin Adeoye

The residents of Obafemi Awolowo Hall usually look forward to the session packages in anticipation of whatever the current administration had to offer them. Every student accommodated in Obafemi Awolowo Hall must pay compulsory basic dues to fulfill the financial obligations of being an Awoite. This fee also serves as an essential payment that allows students to receive a set of items, commonly called a “package”, at the end of every academic session. The package usually includes items such as books, laundry baskets, toilet rolls, etc, depending on what each administration decides, and its distribution has been a long-standing tradition that students anticipate every year.

However, there was an unexpected turn of events at the end of the 22/23 session, as nobody said anything about package distribution until the session ended. Initially, Awoites had low expectations because there was no indication of the availability of the package, even as exams were wrapping up. After exams, students began vacating the hostel and returning home for the holiday. Given the lack of updates on package distribution, many students started to worry that there was never any package.

Students’ hopes were rekindled when the then Information and Publicity Minister, Miss Wuraola Olagoke, announced the details of the package collection, including the date, venue, and requirements. While this news brought some excitement, many students had already returned home, prompting concerns to surface on the group chat. It was later announced that those who missed the distribution would receive their packages at the beginning of the new session.

Upon resumption of the 2023/2024 academic session, package distribution for the last session continued after hostel registration and room allocation ended. The package items were handed over to the current administration for distribution, as they were now in charge. Different days and times were fixed for the collection of the package. All Awoites had to do was show up with their basic dues receipt from the last session. The distribution went well until it was announced that the bed sheets were finished. According to the current sports director, Miss Mbanewe Jacintha, who is overseeing the package distribution, she informed the waiting students that the bed sheets were finished and that they could take two books if they were interested. Otherwise, they could pick up one book and wait for the arrival of new bedspreads, although their availability could only be promised sometime soon. Later, it was decided that only two books would be given to students who had yet to collect their packages.

Unsurprisingly, the books finished, leaving several students who had yet to get any packages dumbfounded. The question everyone was asking was “How?”. This is because it is rare for basic due packages to finish when several students haven’t received theirs. Awo Hall Press reached out to the former president, Miss Kehinde Adegboye, for an explanation about the insufficient packages from her administration. However, she has yet to respond or reach out till now. Some students who looked forward to getting a bed sheet were unhappy, not only because of the shortage of bed sheets but because of insufficient information about when they would become available again. Others blamed the previous administration, citing their incompetence as the root of the problem.

When asked, the financial secretary of the previous administration, Miss Kehinde Aniyi, confirmed that one thousand two hundred Awoites were planned for in the basic dues package. 1300 pieces of books and 1200 pieces of bed sheets were budgeted and paid for. “The vendor contracted for the bed sheets delivered the wrong bedspread size, which had to be returned. Before she could correct it to the right size, she complained that the prices of materials in the market had increased from 1000 naira to 1850 naira as she had to buy more materials, so she had to produce 800-bedsheets as that was what the money we paid her could afford due to the rise in cost of materials’‘, Miss Kehinde told the press. When asked why extra money couldn’t be sent to the vendor, she said, “We had not done the hall’ s week so it would have been risky because the money might not be enough for hall week”. She also mentioned that sharing two books each to Awoites who didn’t get bed sheets caused the shortage of books.

Regarding the issue of Awoites who couldn’t get their hall package, Miss Kehinde Aniyi has been instructed by the hall warden to compile the list of students in that category. The list, which currently has over 200 students, is still being compiled. Hopefully, something will be done soon, and they’ll get their deserved hall package from the previous administration. Miss Kehinde also mentioned that she assures that every Awoite who paid for shirts last session will get their shirts before the end of this month.