01/06/2026
Same Campus, Different Standard : Inside the quiet inequality dividing Shama village’s hostels by gender
By Luqman Kamaldeen Oladayo
When Olaiya Sheriffdeen fled Shama village, it wasn’t a decision he made lightly. It wasn’t even a decision, it was a run for survival.
Sheriffdeen, a 100 level Physiotherapy student of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) had lived in Shama, a village that houses privately owned hostels on UDUS main campus, since his days at the Faculty of Chemical and Life Sciences. He loved the proximity of the hostel to his faculty and never imagined he would, one day, leave the campus to stay at the school gate.
While speaking with Pen Press UDUS, Sheriffdeen shared that living in Shama Village was never easy for him. A large part of the hostels built for male students in Shama are in very poor conditions. Majorly due to unavailability of stable electricity, proper water supply, and adequate security.
After a year of horrible living conditions, Sheriffdeen had no choice than to leave Shama for Kwakwalawa—an accommodation located near the school gate, even though it meant trading the proximity he once enjoyed for comfort.
“Sometimes, we have to trek to the Veterinary Medicine area just to fetch water, which often affects our studies, health, and daily life,” he laments.
What stung Sheriffdeen more than the struggles for survival is the perceived preferential treatment, he noted that the hostels built for females in the same area are in better conditions. He recalled a male hostel in Shama, where male occupants had endured broken doors, poor electricity and crumbling walls for semesters. Inconveniences that weren’t fixed despite complaints. However, immediately the hostel was transitioned to accommodate female students, every deficiency that made former male occupants' livelihood hard was fixed. Ranging from the broken doors, light, and even security.
“This is unfair because male students also deserve a safe and comfortable place to stay. The situation makes us feel less valued,” he said.
Recognizing the poor state of some of the private hostels in Shama village, the school management through Professor S. Y. Tsagem, Deputy Dean 2 for Private hostels, released a notice on September 30th, 2025, ordering students not to take accommodations in some hostels until some services were provided. This led some of the landlords to restore light for a while before the usual blackout.
Ibrahim Ayomide, a 300 level student of history is another male student who has lived in Shama village for two years. He pointed to the low quality materials that make up most of the buildings and the deficits he noticed in the constructions, ranging from: the roofing, doors, windows and toilet buildings.
On the contrary, he made reference to the fact that the female students in their hostels enjoy better buildings, light and water than the male students. In a bid to assess the situation, this reporter stepped inside a male hostel in Shama and the building itself is evidence of Ayomide’s claim ; a ceiling peeling at the edges, a door totally broken and dumped at a side, wall angles cracked, naked wiring stares, and the unprotected public toilets sock away was recklessly abandoned—thus emitting horrible smells that filled the entire area.
But on crossing into the female section of the same community, the contrast is apparent; the door closes properly, water runs within a reasonable reach, the basics works. What differentiates the standard of the buildings is not the landlord, but the gender of the occupants.
Freshmen Regrets Living in Shama Village
Like every other person, Abdulkareem Taofeeq, a 100 level mass communication student, was over the moon when he gained admission to study in UDUS. In the cloud surrounding his jubilations, it never occurred to him that he is set to live in a hostel where rodents and other harmful animals find their ways in easily. When this reporter paid a visit to Taofeeq’s hostel, his room is a cubicle with no window, the ceiling is in a state of destruction, and the room flickered with heat as a result of no other ventilator than the entrance.
“My living in male hostel in Shama is a very big mistake, because there's nothing good in male hostel in Shama including, light, water, security, toilet,” he declared.
Sharing his earliest experience, Taofeeq noticed, even though he doesn't normally visit female hostels, how many of the shama female hostels have light and security— something a plethora of male hostels lack in the same community.
In the archive of his reality, he is a student who would have preferred staying indoors to read but, because of blackouts in his hostel. He was pushed to make the difficult decision of going to class to read at night because he has no choice. He has also faced inconvenience in having to go out to fetch water in very distant neighboring hostels.
Zakariyau Bashir is a medical student who thought living in shama village in his first year would be something to write home about. But, after his one year experience, he resolved that the area is not conducive for students.
He is a student who finds great importance in light, water and security for every student. However, it's a shock on his face when the light in his hostel went off for over six months in 2025. He recounted a saddening experience with his roommate, whose phone was stolen during daylight because there is no light to charge in the hotels.
“I've been late to many lectures because I have to queue at the well to fetch water in the morning and sometimes we have no choice but to buy water,” he recollected.
While students like Sulaiman Saheed, a 200 level law student, from a religious point of view, found the disparity justified because he believed women are deserving of comfort and protection. Bashir on the other hand, condemned and perceived women enjoying certain provisions which men don't as inequality. He opined that the facts of being students is what matters and perceived basic amenities shouldn't be gender affiliated
“Because, I have seen students going as far as the agriculture department and Bakarsi school hostel just to get clean water from Shama village,” he affirmed.
Similar Rent, Same Community, Distinct Amenities
While speaking with Pen Press UDUS, Abdulazeez Khadijat, a 400 level student of business administration disclosed that she has lived in Shama village for 3 years and has had a comfortable and very nice experience.
She acknowledged that, though, occupants in her hostel have started facing electricity issues lately. She still rates the current state of the hostel averagely following the recent electricity saga.
For a hostel that possess, good toilet, adequate water supply, gates for security reasons and a high quality building, she paid the rent of ₦70,000 per room.
On the other hand, students like Sheriffdeen and Taofeeq who paid 70,000 naira and 50,000 naira respectively for accommodations they claimed are substandard in the same community wonder why there is difference in amenities. This further discloses how the majority of male students settle for what they perceive as less because there are no better options to consider.
Management Responds
Mr. Mubarak, who has spent over ten years managing and serving as caretaker for Benji hostels, explained that the rent amount of each hostel depends on the kind of room choices, as some rooms have indoor toilets while some possess outdoor toilets.
In his responses, he acknowledged the issue raised by Sheriffdeen who found a hostel that was renovated immediately after the male occupants evacuated to accommodate female students.
“The hostel was renovated before the female occupants moved in. You can also ask those currently staying there for confirmation,” he affirmed.
He proceeded to debunk certain claims made by male occupants. While explaining, he pointed to the initial status of male hostels with lights, security and doors, and how the light supply was disconnected because some occupants refused to pay electricity bills regularly.
Shama village sits on UDUS main campus, within walking distance of lecture halls, faculty buildings, and administrative offices. That the students housed there cannot reliably access water, electricity, or a door that closes is not a story about neglect at the edges. It is a story happening at the centre, in plain sight, semester after semester. The question is no longer whether the problem exists. The question is how much longer it will be allowed to.
