VOX POP: FRESHMEN OF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO HALL SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES SO FAR AND ALSO THEIR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEW SESSION.

By Divine Leonard

Freedom is one common thought that runs through the mind of freshmen stepping into University life. Whether freedom from parents or whatsoever, it is a transition from one phase to an independent phase. The excitement, nerve and sense of a newfound independence makes it a new experience, moving from home to living alone in the hostel. To capture the feeling this unique experience brings, Awo press met with some freshmen who spoke about their stay in the hostel so far and their expectations for the new session.

Lawal Odunayo Hameedat, Chemistry.

My experience so far has been good actually. I love gaining experience in challenging ways so that if I find myself in a similar situation in the future, it won’t be too hard for me to deal with it. One of the challenging aspects of the hostel has been the issue of water. They don’t supply water up so we have to go downstairs to fetch. Our kitchen is also bad now for a week and it hasn’t been repaired. We’ve complained and even saw the plumber but it still hasn’t been repaired. We were even told to use the other block’s kitchen and so we have to move from here to the other block. I also do not like how males just come into the room. The other day, a male porter banged on the door to ask if any of our wardrobe was bad. The way the door was banged on, if the door was open and one wasn’t dressed well, they’d have just entered like that. So I just feel like maybe these kinds of things should be handled by the female porters because this is a female hostel. I’m a Muslim so I have to wear my hijab most of the time because I could just see them anywhere and I’m not comfortable, I would have to wear my socks, hijab etc. I am not comfortable with this at all. I have a friend in Queen’s Hall who said that porters don’t go inside their rooms so why is it the case in Awo?There’s also only one water closet in use on my floor, and I’m not comfortable with it which makes me go to the central mosque. It should be worked on too. I have loved the experience so far as well as the challenges so far.

Abiola Christiana, Chemistry.

Awo is a home to me. But one of the things I’ve noticed is that once you lodge a complaint, the supervisors don’t follow it up. We made a complaint about sockets and we’ve complained several times but no changes have been made till now. I also wish that in the future they allow our parents to enter the gist. Even if not our male relatives, our female relatives should be given the chance to enter.I had to pay people to assist in carrying my loads; if my parents, especially my mother had been allowed in, she would have helped me instead of me paying some amount of money for my load to be carried. One thing I’ve loved so far is the ease of buying things, I don’t need to stress myself in getting what I need. Also, there’s a basketball court but we don’t make use of it for sporting activities. When I first got here, I was amazed at the fact that Awo had a basketball court. I had even thought of joining the sports team. I hope they work on this.

Grace, Geology.

It was not something I actually planned for. It was more like what I ordered Vs what I got. So, that’s the best description of it. It was not up to my standard, it was off; the rooms, the water etc because how can I be in this room for 5 weeks now and no light in the room, like how? The sockets are also bad so it’s off for me. I’ve not really had any good experiences so far. The hostel should be totally renovated. They should let everyone move out and renovate it because as it is, this hostel needs renovation. All the blocks need plastering and change of doors. Let the place be renovated and you will see the way it will be conducive for people, people won’t complain as much as this.Where I came from, a state polytechnic, they actually renovated the hostel. Although it wasn’t as bad as Awo, it became better to live in when it was renovated. The First and best slogan makes me feel it’s for academics.

Blessing, Computer Science

I won’t say it’s too bad. It’s okay asides from the fact that Awo is not like other halls in terms of size so there’s the stress of more stairs to climb, fetching of water to cook, using the toilet, to bath etc. Apart from the stressful parts, Awo is okay. Sometimes, people make noise at night but that’s not really a problem for me.It’s mostly cool here. I like the location because of the trees, plants, etc. I like the environment too, it’s cool and not too hot at night. I expected more hotel drama but people have mostly been friendly.I don’t really have any problem, my experience has been okay so far; nothing too bad by the Grace of God. Aside from the fact that I love dramas, I want Awo to be relatively hassle-free. I like how it’s quiet now and hope remains so.

Osuolale Precious, Art and Social Science Education

First of all, I’m the only one in my room, and it’s been really lonely and hell here. If possible, I want water to flow in the bathrooms. Another issue is the fact that parents aren’t permitted to enter and visit and I feel it’s not fair. People make noise at night, the executives should walk around and those constituting nuisance should be fined. The light issue is also a problem. We paid utility bills and as students we need to read at night, but it’s not possible when there’s no light and it’s dark. I almost fell down the other day with water on my head because of the blackout. If possible, a pipe should be passed out through the kitchen so we can have water. They should also make more poles for spreading clothes.The floor around that area is also muddy, something should be done about it.

Temiloluwa, Arts and Social Science Education

It has been stressful here. The issue of the light has been a great disaster. For instance, when rain falls, the light is affected and we may not have light for the next 3 days making me go downstairs to fetch water. In some cases when there’s no water, I would have to go downstairs to fetch water from the well. There’s also the issue of the ground floor. It’s slippery and watery, , I don’t know if it can be levelled up because most times, people do slip there. It’s always slippery, most times people want to carry water and you just hear, “what happened?? Someone has fallen down”. God saved one girl, she hit her chest on the floor. May God help me here.