By Yisau Babatunde
Almost every night, when the light begins to dim across the hostels of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS), and most exhausted students retreat back to their rooms after hours of lecture and academic pressure, Abdullah Ibrahim* prepares for another endless battle, a battle he never expected to fight at the University.
Anytime he lies on his bed, he often stares at the ceiling, knowing fully well that sleep may not even come. Outside his window rests a stream of stagnant wastewater. If he dares open the window, the foul smells find its way to the room, if he shuts it, the heat becomes immediately unbearable.
Then also comes the mosquitoes.
According to Ibrahim, he has suffered malaria, and spends money on his health, thanks to the stagnant water breeding the mosquitoes, despite struggling to meet other academic expenses.
“The sickness occurred during the first semester of this session, and since then, I have been thinking of getting a room at a private hostel for the next session,” he told Digest Press.
"Every morning, the hostel sweepers clean the corridors, but within a few hours, the stagnant water is back again, producing foul odours," he said.
To him, the problem goes beyond poor sanitation only, but a structural failure.
He explained that wastewater from rooms on the upper floors often spills directly onto the ground rather than being properly channelled through drainage systems.
"The way the hostels were constructed is part of the problem. The water used by students upstairs pours directly onto the hostel surroundings instead of flowing into the drainage meant for it," he said.
Ibrahim also noted that while a proper channel exists, many of them are narrow, not properly maintained, and cannot handle the amount of the wastewater generated by the students. Yes added that if the wastewater were properly directed into a functioning drainage system, students would not have to leave in conditions that threaten their health.
While students blame the state of the hostels on poor infrastructure, the workers responsible for cleaning them maintained that the students' residents are also contributing directly to the problem.
Speaking with Digest Press, one of the workers who pleaded anonymity said the problems are often caused by the indiscriminate disposal of waste on the part of students.
He said the hostel surroundings are cleaned every morning. According to him, they sweep the premises, burn collected waste where necessary and regularly clear blocked drainage channels whenever wastewater begins to accumulate or emit foul odours.
"After cleaning, students still throw nylon bags, food remnants and other wastes into the drains and that is what is causing many of the blockages."
He added that cleanliness is a shared responsibility, if students continue to dump waste into the drainage after being cleaned, the water will continue to be there.
"We need their cooperation for the environment to remain clean and stop producing bad smells."
Although the worker told this reporter that the condition is linked to poor waste disposal by the students, some observations made by the reporter revealed that it's only part of the story after Digest Press visited different blocks in Jubril Aminu.
Digest interviewed different students, reviewed the sanitation and maintenance paid by the students, the findings exposed where wastewater was seen flowing directly from the upper floor to the ground, exposing thousands of students to unsanitary living conditions, potential health risks and persistent discomfort.
Further observations revealed pools of stagnant wastewater overflowing and foul odour across the hall of residence, with overgrown weeds around it. This indicates that while the students' disposal habits contribute to the problem, structural deficiencies and inadequate drainage capacity have continued to expose students to unhealthy living conditions.
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| Jibril Aminu's Block G Drainage |
Living With Fear, Paying the Price
For Salisu Mukhtar, the stagnant wastewater outside his hostel has become more than an unpleasant sight. He said it has become an expense he struggles to afford.
Last semester alone, he told Digest Press that he visited the private clinic at the school minimart multiple times after suffering repeated illness of malaria and fever. While he didn't believe the illness is linked to the stagnant wastewater, he believed the persistent mosquito infestation around his hostel has made it difficult.
"There are nights you cannot study because of the mosquitoes. Whenever I am sick, I spend money treating malaria only to return to the same environment that made me sick,” he said.
Like Ibrahim, Mukhtar said students have accepted the situation, not because conditions have improved, but frequent complaints yield no results.
"You buy insecticides, mosquito coils and drugs regularly. Some students cannot even afford that. We complain every session, but the stinking water is still there."
For students like Mukhtar, however, the debate is less about scientific certainty and more about daily reality.
"Even if you don't get sick, you live with the fear that you might. Nobody should be paying to stay in a place that feels unsafe.” he said with dissatisfaction.
Paying Heavy Prices For Infrastructures Failures
For Tajudeen Abdulrahman, a 200-level student, the consequences extend beyond sleepiness nights and mosquito bites. He said he no longer drinks the water supply through the hostel tank. His reason? He explained to this reporter that the tank is located close to an area where the stagnant wastewater always connects, producing foul smell and attracting flies.
"Whenever I see where the tank is situated, I don't feel comfortable drinking the water at all, the stagnant water is always there, and it makes me question the cleanliness of the environment."
As a result, Abdulrahman relies almost entirely on sachet water for drinking and cooking. But with a bag of sachet water currently selling for between N350 and N400, depending on the location and season, he said the cost has become an additional financial burden on him.
He told Digest Press that he spent more money on sachet water than he budgeted for, and when he adds handouts, assignments and other academic expenses, it becomes difficult to cope, especially when money is not coming in regularly.
For a student already struggling to balance limited finances with the demands of university life, he said the constant need to purchase sachet water is a burden he believes could have been avoided if hostel facilities were properly maintained.
"Students are already paying sanitation and maintenance fees. We shouldn't have to spend extra money every day because we don't trust the conditions around the water supply.” he lamented.
For Raji,* the combination of foul odours and persistent mosquito infestations often makes it difficult to rest at night, particularly during the rainy season.
"There are days when I wake up feeling exhausted because I barely slept, the mosquitoes are too many, and when the smell becomes stronger, I keep waking up throughout the night."
Raji said the situation frequently affects his ability to study and remain focused during lectures.
He lamented that whenever he attended classes during the day, he spent part of the night fighting mosquitoes instead of sleeping but by morning, he would have been tired and feeling dizzy in classes.
Paying For Maintenance, Living in Neglect
Beyond the health concerns and daily discomfort faced by students, the persistent drainage problems raise questions about the utilisation of sanitation and maintenance fees collected from hostel residents.
Document reviewed by Digest Press reveals that each hostel resident pays a combined ₦6,000 as a sanitation fee and ₦3,600 for maintenance fees, bringing the total annual payment to N9,600 per student.
Subsequently, for the 2023/2024 session the amount will amount to #225.5 million while 2024/2025 still remain the same will be #225.5 million while 2025/2026 is the same, will be equalled to #225.5 million.
Further breakdown by Digest Press according to Times Higher Education that out of the total percentage of students registered in the school by 2025 which is 23,491; there is 6,343 (27%) of Female and 17, 148 (73%) of male.
Thus, going by that, Female students will be paying approximately #57.1 million while the Male will be paying #154.3 million annually.
Using the university students population of 23,491, as published by the Times Higher Education, Digest Press estimates that the university generated approximately ₦225.5 million from both sanitation and maintenance fees in a single academic session.
Over the last three academic sessions, from 2023/2024 to 2025/2026 alone, the figure amounts to about ₦676.54 million.
Despite this, students continue to contend with stagnant wastewater, poor drainage systems and deteriorating hostel infrastructure, raising questions about how the funds have been utilised and whether adequate maintenance has been carried out.
"If we are paying sanitation and maintenance fees every session, then the environment should reflect it," raji asked rhetorically.
He said that the drains are still blocked, stagnant water is still there, and students are still complaining about the same issues year after year.
This accountability gap has fuelled frustration among students, many of whom believe they are paying for services whose impact is not reflected in their living conditions.
"We are not asking for luxury, we just want to see evidence that the money being collected is actually improving the hostels.” Ahmed added.
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| Jibril Aminu's Block A Drainage |
A Problem that Refuses to Vanish
Interviews with some former students of UDUS also revealed that the drainage problem did not begin this year. Abdulgafar, a resident of Block A who graduated in 2023 said stagnant wastewater was not a new thing during his stay on campus.
“During my time, the drainage is often full of smelly dirty water especially around the Zoo block and making it difficult to even have the designated water tank placed at the front of the drainage in that place.”
Sharing the same sentiment with Abdulgafar, Shamsudeen Olamilekan added that he resided at the Block B's common room during his final year as a student and experienced the foul odor during that time.
He stated that there was no proper maintenance during that time and the constructed drainage systems within the hostels was very narrow making wastewater to be overflowing with ease and uncontrollably.
“I can't remember the exact time but I knew that I visited the school clinic more than three times during my final year residing at the common room which is close to one of the passing drainage.”
He contends that if temporary measures like clearing the drainage are occasionally taken, a more comprehensive and lasting solution is needed to address the root causes of the problem.
Expert Weighs in
In order to understand the possible health implications of the conditions observed in the hostels, Digest Press shared the photographs and the descriptions of the affected area with Rahman Olawale, an environmental health expert in Ibadan, Oyo state.
After reviewing them, he said stagnant wastewater provides a suitable breeding environment for mosquitoes and other disease vectors and when such conditions persist for a prolonged period, the risk of vector-borne diseases, especially malaria, increases.
He noted that poor drainage systems often indicate deeper environmental sanitation challenges that require immediate intervention rather than temporary measures.
According to him, repeatedly clearing visible waste without addressing structural drainage defects only offers short-term relief, as wastewater will continue to accumulate whenever the underlying problem remains unresolved.
Omowale further stressed that institutions responsible for student accommodation have a duty to ensure safe and healthy living conditions.
“Environmental sanitation is not merely about keeping an area visually clean. It involves ensuring that wastewater is properly channelled, drains are adequately maintained and residents are protected from preventable health risks.”
University, Students’ Unions Respond
When contacted by Digest Press the Students' Union Welfare Director, Fatimah Zarah, stated that the union was not previously aware of the situation, and she had not personally observed the conditions of the drainage in the male hostels.
However, she acknowledged that the drainage system may be blocked and gave assurance that the Students' Union would look into the matter.
“I'll tell my male colleague to check it out and we will do the needful by God's grace." she promised.
Speaking on the issue, the Dean of Students' Affairs, Prof. Zayyanu Usman, expressed concern over what he described as the misuse of hostel facilities by some students, noting that such actions make maintenance efforts more challenging.
He stated that the university management has been working to ensure that hostel environments remain clean, safe and conducive for students, but regretted that some residents engage in practices that undermine these efforts.
"The hostels are cleaned daily, including the clearing of drainage channels. All these measures are aimed at providing our students with a healthy and well-ventilated environment," he said.
Prof. Usman assured that the management would continue to monitor conditions in and around the hostels and take appropriate measures where necessary.
He warned that students found deliberately damaging or misusing hostel infrastructure would face disciplinary action.
The dean further disclosed that the university would intensify efforts to address drainage challenges within the hostels and work towards finding a lasting solution to the problem.