The University of Maiduguri is a Federal owned higher institution located in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno state in the northeastern part of Nigeria.
It was established in 1975, with the intention of it becoming one of the country`s principal higher-education institutions.
In recent years, the University of Maiduguri has experienced a drastic setback as a result of the actions of Boko Haram which has imparted the state and the northeast entirely.
Despite the devastating activities of the insurgents, UNIMAID records a very large number of applicants annually.
The University of Maiduguri is known for its highly educated lecturers which is the ultimate reason why the institution is viewed as The Centre of Academic Excellence within and beyond the country.
The institution has trained a good number of reputable personalities who are currently doing well in their respective positions thereby keeping the image of the prestigious university well protected.
UNIMAID has over twelve faculties with more than sixty different courses of study.
UNIMAID Hostel Accommodation
UNIMAID Male Hostel
The University of Maiduguri has seven male hostels which include;
- New Male A
- New Male B
- Titanic Hostel
- B Block (Blocks 1-5)
- C Block (Blocks 1-5)
- D Block (Blocks 1-5)
- E Block (Blocks 1-5)
UNIMAID Female Hostel
The university has 5 female hostels which include:
- Aisha Buhari Hostel
- Aisha Main Hostel
- Murtala Hostel
- Titanic Hostel
- B.O.T Hostel
UNIMAID Hostel Eligibility
All 100 level students for all faculties are eligible to apply for hostel accommodation. Likewise final year students.
However, students from the departments of Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy can exceptionally apply for hostel accommodation at all levels.
UNIMAID Hostel Allocation
All 100 level students both male and female are allocated male and female Titanic hostels respectively.
However, there is no special allocation of hostels to medical students or law students.
All other hostels are allocated based on a first-come, first-serve, to only eligible students. That is, final year students.
UNIMAID Hostel Locations
UNIMAID hostels are dispersed almost all over the campus at no strategic locations.
However, some common places can be used as reference points for easy description and identification. For male hostels, B block is a neighbourhood of D block.
Both blocks are located in the commercial area of the university. E block, New male B and Titanic hostels however are located just opposite the commercial area and are on the same lane.
New male A however is distinctly located on the roadside leading to access bank from the chapel area. It is on the opposite lane to Aisha main hostel and Murtala hostels.
Female Titanic has its entrance at a very popular spot of the university known as J-road. Meanwhile, other female hostels have minor entrances at that spot.
B.O.T Hostel
B.O.T is a private hostel
Unlike the other hostels, all female students are eligible to apply regardless of level or faculty but based on a first-come, first-serve.
It is situated just beside new male hostel A. While the main way which passes in front of it leads to Aisha Buhari hostel, the alpha female hostel.
Aisha Buhari hostel is named after President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife.
Hostel Structures
New male hostel, Aisha Buhari, and new male B possess the same structures, a three-story building with fifty rooms on each floor making a total of 150 rooms. Four students are allocated per room.
Titanic hostels however have 4 floors with 30 rooms on each floor. Making a total of 120 rooms.
Male B, C, D and E blocks have 5 sub-blocks each. Each of the 5 sub-blocks in turn has 40 rooms. Twenty on the first floor and twenty on the Second floor.
Hostel Light
Light shows every day in UNIMAID hostels from 11 am to 4 pm, after which light ceases for two hours and returns from 6 pm till 6 am.
This route is maintained except in some exceptional cases. With the above lighting route, students have more than enough hours of light to study. This is one advantage students staying in the hostel have over those staying off campus.
Hostel Application and Clearance
UNIMAID hostel application is done in a less stressful manner. Anyone with a smartphone can go online and reserve accommodation in less than 5 minutes if he or she is eligible.
The application is free. After application, the forms are to be taken to UNIMAID Microfinance Bank for validation which costs one thousand naira.
After that, the names of successful students will later be placed at each hostel for them to proceed with clearance.
During hostel clearance, a student must present evidence of application and validation. Here, the student will pay cash the money for accommodation as mandated by the school authority. All hostels cost fifteen thousand naira with the exception of
New male A and B, Aisha Buhari which cost Twenty-two thousand Naira, and B.O.T which costs thirty thousand naira.
Upon successful payment, a bed and hostel permit card will be issued to the respective student.
Hostel accommodation period last for only one academic session after which all students will be mandated to vacate hostels until further applications are made.
UNIMAID Off Campus Accommodation
With the way hostel accommodation has become an issue of high concern for students, a good number of students are left with no choice but stay off-campus.
Meanwhile, high rent fee is another threat to these students as well as a destabilizing issue. In essence, students whose finances are not in a good flow may not be able to hire apartments off-campus due to the current trends of housing development and rapid enrollment changes impacting their livelihood.
The off-campus residential areas in UNIMAID include the 202 area which is the closest to the institution and possesses a good degree of convenience.
However, the rental fee in the 202 area is very high and detestable probably as a result of its closeness to the school and availability of water.
This has automatically disenfranchised students of low or average financial flow from being able to hire an apartment in the 202 area, as a single self-contained room cost nothing less than a hundred thousand naira.
Another off-campus area closely related to 202 is the 303 off-campus area which shares almost the same features as the 202 off-campus area. 202 & 303 off-campus residential areas are located exactly on the opposite side of UNIMAID, with the main road separating them from the school area.
Another off-campus residential area is the MAIRI area. This is the most largely occupied area by UNIMAID students and at the same time the most disastrous.
Apartments on this side range from fifty to a hundred thousand naira and above. This means an average man will still have to struggle financially to be able to hire one.
MAIRI area can be related to FURRI area which is at some distance away from the school area. The cost of the off-campus apartment around the school environment is generally high and most students struggle to pay.
Sometimes, students are thrown out of apartments for failure to renew rent fees when they must have exhausted the previous one. And that is the beginning of their depression which has led so many students into negative attitudes.
Apart from the high cost of residential areas outside school, students staying off-campus are faced with a severe lack of sensitive resources, particularly light and water.
More than half of off-campus apartments are deficient in the water supply that is good in quality and fit for purpose.
This has put the students under another problem of purchasing water for every single purpose despite the financial crisis they are going through. This very problem has worsened the off-campus situation around UNIMAID and students are left with no option than going to hustle instead of attending lectures just to make a living. And this has in turn affected their grades so badly.
The issue of light has become problematic for students staying off-campus especially for the past one and half year when there was total light out in the entire state as a result of the massive damage impacted by Boko Haram terrorists on the state`s power industry. This too has drastically affected the performance of students staying off-campus.
In addition to the aforementioned, it has been recorded that students staying off-campus are associated with the use of hard drugs, rubbery and the likes which has reduced their likelihood of survival.
The influence of the non-students on them has greatly impacted their lives negatively. It was even reported that a good number of them were no more students, meaning they have been withdrawn from the university by the university authority as a result of weak or better still poor performance and lack of cooperation on their side. This has greatly impacted their livelihoods.
In conclusion, hostel accommodation in the UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI is an issue of emergency and must be addressed quickly and decently to avoid further devastation of students` lives and properties.
It is high time the school authority considers the welfare of students as worth attention and act on it so fast.
The school authority should provide more hostel accommodations to all students, renovated dilapidated hostels, and restrict the selling of bed spaces that has become a means of extortion, only then can there be peace and protection of interest.
Very helpful, thanks a lot
Jamiu,
You’re welcome.