Staffers of the University will soon breathe a sigh of relief in overcoming accommodation challenges. A residential staff estate is being considered by an estate-developing firm of Property and Construction Group (PCG), Nigeria, in conjunction with the Management.

Briefing the University Management and Union leaders on the proposed project, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Abiodun Adesina stated that the decision by his company to initiate the project was borne out of concern for the enormous challenges being encountered by members of staff in the area of accommodation.

He noted that the estate, when constructed would reduce the hardship of travelling over long distance to work, bad road networks and insecurity, as currently being experienced by the staff, on a daily basis.

The Chief Executive of PCG, said the estate will provide accommodation specifications ranging from a One-Bedroom apartment to a fully detached Four-Bedroom duplex,adding that the estate will not be lacking in basic infrastructural amenities, such as good road networks, electricity and potable water.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun, noted that the proposed staff estate could not had come at a better time, considering the increase in staff strength that had skyrocketed by about 50% and the hardship faced by staff while commuting to work daily.

The Vice-Chancellor said the challenges have overbearing significance on productivity, noting that recreation, comfort and good health of the staff could only be properly planned and enhanced when they
cohabit.

Professor Balogun lamented that the ordeal daily faced by the staff was agonizing and that “no responsible Management will fold its arms, in the face of such ordeal”. He was of the opinion that Management should concurrently address the accommodation problem of the staff alongside the provision of hostels for the students.

The Vice-Chancellor said “though the University was planned to be non-residential, but that did not factor-in the present realities, vehicular problem has heightened, while the accommodation problem has been more compounded”.

Several staff and Union leaders present at the presentation expressed delight in the project, calling for its speedy execution while also advising the developer to be considerate on rents and other tenancy issues.