UNILAG announces a hostel expansion plan to add 7,836 bed spaces by 2027 to ease student accommodation pressure at the Akoka campus

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, has announced that the institution will create an additional 7,836 hostel bed spaces by 2027 under a major UNILAG hostel expansion aimed at easing persistent student accommodation shortages.

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Professor Ogunsola disclosed the plan on Wednesday at a press conference at the Senate Building, Akoka, ahead of the university’s 56th convocation ceremonies.

She said the project is being executed through funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and Public-Private Partnership arrangements, with five contractors already mobilised to site.

The university currently has about 10,599 bed spaces for an undergraduate population of roughly 35,000 students, a gap that widened this year due to rising transport costs and escalating off-campus rents.

Ogunsola acknowledged that the university could not house all students but said the situation would improve significantly once total capacity reaches 18,435 bed spaces.

“The university has been in the news recently concerning student accommodation. While it will be impossible to house all students, we are making steady progress,” Ogunsola said.

She noted that seven existing hostels had been rehabilitated with funding from TETFund’s 2023 and 2024 interventions, adding that several of the upgraded facilities are already in use.

Three of the new PPP hostels are being developed off campus at Iwaya, Morounfolu and Abule Oja.

Ogunsola also announced that 617 out of 10,584 undergraduates, representing 5.8 per cent of the graduating class, would receive First Class degrees at the forthcoming convocation.

Overall, 16,506 students will graduate during the ceremonies, including 5,782 postgraduates and 140 Business School certificate recipients.

Umeozor Benedict of the Department of Business Administration, who recorded a perfect CGPA of 5.0, was named the overall best graduating student, while Deborah Oloton of Architecture emerged as the best in the sciences with a CGPA of 4.91.

Ogunsola said the convocation lecture titled “Maximising Nigeria’s Demographic Dividend through Urgent Education Reform for Global Competitiveness in the 21st Century” would be delivered by education advocate Orondaam Otto.

She also announced that two retired academics would be honoured as emeritus professors, while honorary doctorates would be conferred on businessman Jubril Tinubu and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Kanu Agabi.

Addressing other challenges, Ogunsola said the university had begun recruiting new staff following federal approval for 350 appointments and was expanding solar power installations to mitigate energy constraints.

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She described the reforms as part of a broader push to strengthen the institution’s resilience, competitiveness and student welfare.