Ondo varsity students lament as rents hit N250,000

By Boye Oyeyemi

Students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, have appealed to the university management and the state government to provide affordable accommodation as rising rents make off-campus housing increasingly difficult to afford.

The students said the rising cost of apartments had worsened their financial challenges, forcing them to struggle with accommodation expenses alongside tuition, feeding, transportation and other academic needs.

Findings around the university community showed that annual rents for single rooms range between N200,000 and N250,000, while self-contained apartments cost even more. The situation has heightened concerns among students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds who struggle to meet their basic needs.

A Microbiology student, identified as Tobi, said the annual rent for her former apartment increased from N90,000 to N180,000, forcing her to move out. She described the increase as excessive and called on the government to support efforts to expand student accommodation.

Similarly, Ifakunle Gbemi-Damilola of the Faculty of Social Sciences urged the university management to construct more hostels, saying adequate on-campus accommodation would reduce students’ dependence on private landlords, agents and caretakers.

A fresher, Adeola Olayemi, said she spent several days searching for an affordable apartment without success. She called for a partnership between the university and the Ondo State Government to build more hostels and ease the accommodation difficulties facing newly admitted students.

Olayemi added that providing reasonably priced accommodation within the university would ease pressure on private housing in the surrounding community and enable students to settle into academic life without excessive financial strain.

Meanwhile, another student, Richard Adekola, of the Department of Chemistry Education, urged the university’s Students’ Union to collaborate with the National Association of Nigerian Students, the National Association of University Students and the National Association of Ondo State Students to advocate urgent measures to address the housing crisis.