The Alexander Brown Hall, University College Hospital, Ibadan, has been opened for habitation from the 3rd of January, 2025. ‘Habitation’ used here is deliberate, a means to paint a picture of the decrepit nature of things therein. As of this publication, not up to half of the Hall’s population has returned. ABH is a dry landscape punctuated by the occasional sight of people lifting kegs and buckets of water, cleaners earnestly trying to provide an aesthetic of order, and the weariness of the residents who deem it habitable. It’s not home. And it will not be home for a while.
80 Days! There has been no power for 80 days! This is as absurd to consider as any scenario one could dream up in a fictional piece about the Hall of Residence for students in the country’s pioneer Medical and Physiotherapy programs, among others. That’s without including the folks in the Ayodele Falase Post-Graduate Hall. For almost three months, these post-graduate degree-seekers have been forced to navigate a situation alien to their lives as undergraduates either as University of Ibadan students or in whatever varsity they arrived from. Were time machines to be patent, most would go back in time, firmly dissuading their past selves from picking up the forms and undergoing the registrations that have left them stuck in this semi-Orwellian hell.
In the days since the 3rd, much like the weeks before the 21st of December, when the Hall officially closed for fumigation, there has been only one set of tanks available to provide residents with water. The queues begin as early as 4:30 AM and extend for most mornings. The Hall is barely at half-capacity and these queues are still the status quo. Brownites who have the ill luck of waking up late on such mornings have no choice but to join the queue, regardless of their plans for the day. It’s an inconvenience that alters personal timetables, rendering those hours useless for most, as they continually monitor the movement of buckets and kegs on the queue. On a good day, not only should there be water in the other tanks that service Brownites like the D and E block tanks, but there would also be water flowing to taps and showers in bathrooms in those blocks. It’s hilarious to think that in the year 2025, shower fixtures are a relic of the past. Not that all were fully functional. But the ones that did work, serviced quite a number of Brownites. Now, it’s a situation where not even the three tanks at A Block get filled on some days.
In a notice to students on the 14th of November 2024, after two days of meetings with student representatives, and a three-day boycott of activities by students, from the College of Medicine, UI (CoMUI), Brownites were assured that “Management will ensure the prompt pumping of water to fill all water storage tanks and guarantee sufficient distribution to all blocks in the hall”. Not only has that been reneged in terms of water not being pumped to all tanks and distributed to all the blocks, but there have also been complete breaks in water supply, altogether. One such was on the 12th of January, 2025, with the Hall Executives having to send in a message titled, “Water Update”, stating, “We regret to inform you that despite our best efforts to keep providing water, we are unable to meet up with the financial demand. Hence, we will not be able to pump water due to lack of funds to purchase petrol”. The killer arrived in the proceeding lines, “We urge Brownites to look for alternatives while we source for funding to pump water. Apologies for the inconvenience”. That combination of sentences is outrageous. It should not be. Students shouldn’t have to fundraise for water in Halls of Residence paid for by blood, sweat, tears, and sorrow. It is not sustainable and bodes poorly for subsequent Hall leadership. It also goes against one of our original demands as a Hall made the day before that CoMUI notice. “Consistent provision of at least 6 hours worth of petrol for a petrol generator to pump water and 3 hours worth of diesel for the diesel generator. Brownites are willing to cope with this arrangement for the next 1 month, after which we believe that a final solution must have been proferred”. Right now, there are no 3 hours, water is not consistent, it’s been over a month, and yet students are expected to be in school bright and early. The Hall leadership must consider sustainability and regard for the collectives’ decision as its form of service, withdraw, and place the buck at the feet of the deserving parties.
Concerning sustainability, there’s the issue of power supply for literally everything else. Bulbs and lamps in individual rooms are fast becoming forgotten fixtures. The only sources of light in the Hall are either solar-powered, in the case of the street lamps, or generator-powered, for the vendors, student fellowships, and associations who can afford to do so. In an interesting turn of events, student fellowships within the Hall have maintained a steady schedule of fully-powered services. Associations like UIMSA have also been able to provide two hours of electricity for members. How long do they intend to do this? We do not know. And grateful as we are for these stop-gaps, we must understand that they can not replace the real thing. We need power restored. Just three days ago, on Friday the 17th, a room was broken into in D block, and a device was stolen. This occurred in the late hours of the day when the Hall was completely dark, and unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the Defence Minister and other Brownites, the thief was not apprehended. If there were power supply, the chances of such a break-in would have been minimised. The Hall has experienced incidents of thefts, quite all right, but a break-in of that sort happened because of the limited number of residents around and the darkness serving as a cover. And what factors are responsible for both? Lack of power.
There are so many other effects. 300 level to 500 Level Physiotherapy students have to shuttle to the hospital daily, their devices void of power, and are expected to study and deliver assignments. It’s a worrisome situation that has many leaving the Hall daily with forlorn faces, mentally preparing for yet another day of struggles with electricity. Outlets of salvation like the E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library are slowly losing their saving grace. Wards aren’t even approachable. Since resumption, many Brownites have returned to the main campus for the sake of power supply. Brownites are sleeping in reading rooms and frequent workstations. Medical students, who should ideally be students before anything else, are traversing the length and breadth of Ibadan North for electricity. From the look of things, we aren’t angry enough.
By the way, the so-called fumigation students were sent home for yielded few benefits. Upon resumption, there have been multiple reports of stasis in the bedbug and rat infestation crises, while some even complained of an increase in activities of these pests. Students have resorted to purchasing different insecticides, pesticides, and traps. Tomorrow’s medical doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, medical laboratory scientists, and public health experts, have resorted to alchemy; concocting brews to kill off these pests and comparing notes on which products prove to be more effective. Knowledge of this is made worse by the knowledge of how recurrent the bed bug plague is. Similar complaints were made last year, following the 2023 fumigation exercise, used by an ABH Chairperson aspirant in his 2022 campaign, and brought up in a pivotal meeting between Student Leaders and UI Management as far back as 2018. Something is fundamentally wrong with the fumigation process, and there must be a re-evaluation before the next fumigation process.
It is at this point that we must address the other elephant in the Hall. Paragraphs ago, we mentioned that the Hall has been open for habitation since the 3rd of January this year. We also mentioned how much of the Hall’s population is yet to resume, and how many who have, are currently scattered across the LGA, sourcing places with electricity. Ordinarily, the electricity situation shouldn’t be a reason for students not to proceed with school activities. It wasn’t the case in the last months of 2024. So why now? Well, since the 16th of December, 2024, the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association, UCH (MDCAN UCH), have been on strike. Consequent to that, academic activities for Medical and Dental students have largely been on hold. In the weeks since the Hall opened up, the situation has stayed the same, hence, the non-resumption of various students. Unlike the seven-day – lasted for six -strike embarked on by MDCAN nationwide on the 18th of November 2024, and even preceded by a Press Conference by MDCAN UCH the day before concerning ‘the undue treatment being meted out to medical lecturers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK)’, the reasons for this current strike have not been publicly stated. Rumours abound about the motive, with some fingers pointing towards the salary scheme. However, these are mostly unfounded, and barring any unofficial declaration, remain in the shadows. As of the time of this publication, the Association would have been on strike for five weeks, with students away from academic activities for equally as long. This means yet another extension to the academic calendar. Postings will be lengthened. Exam dates shift even further forward. It’s a worrying situation for all involved – one that hopefully resolves soon.
If anyone needs a clearer image of the effects these elongations have, just consider the following. The current 300-level class will begin their Part I Medical Board Examinations in less than a month. Typically, their resumption into Clinical School should be about a month later. This elongation, however, means their resumption would inevitably be delayed as the rest of the programme undergoes adjustment to ensure balance across the board. Delayed resumption means more time spent in school. More time spent in school, which has compounded with previous strike actions in 2022, the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, and events like the three-week break in September 2024, leads to graduation at much older ages, and with the bulk of one’s youth spent as an undergraduate. It means a lack of access to age-related opportunities and a delayed start career-wise. It’s more years spent paying the highest undergraduate fees at the University of Ibadan. It’s our country having to wait even longer to patch up its abysmal doctor-patient ratio. It’s also the provision of incentives to leave afterwards and practice elsewhere. In a funny turn of events, the ABH Executives put out a call for members ‘willing to join the planning committees for the forthcoming 65th Alexander Brown’s Hall Week’ with the title of ‘65 Years of Brilliance & Illumination’. Not only is there no light in the Hall, but Brownites have no illumination about how much more time they have to spend in school. Anyway, we encourage Brownites to join the Fundraising Committee. Those funds will go a long way in addressing the primary challenges we’re facing. After all, that’s the priority; the standards of our legacy week must be upheld.
This brings us to the inevitable question of, “What next?”. Seven days ago, the Students’ Union, UI, published an open letter to our nation’s President, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, calling his attention ‘to the deplorable state of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and other health facilities in Nigeria due to the persistent power outages that have made the delivery of quality health-care services nearly impossible’ and particularly ‘that UCH has experienced a blackout for over two consecutive months, leaving critical departments and life-saving services in a dire state – this, including the education of the University of Ibadan student-doctors resident in Alexander Brown Hall’. The Union linked the genesis of this problem to the price reforms introduced by the Ministry of Power in April 2024 which resulted in an astronomical increase in electricity cost, calling said policy fundamentally anti-people, and ultimately denying Nigerians access to much-needed adequate care. Afterwards, a 7-day ultimatum was issued to address the aforementioned issues. According to the release, ‘Failure to act within the stipulated time will leave us [the UI’ SU] with no option but to mobilize and protest against this continuous neglect by the government’. The deadline for this is 11:59 PM tonight. From all indications, including the relative silence of other stakeholders copied like; the Ministers of Education, Power, and Health, Oyo State Governor, Senator representing Oyo South, and the Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, among others, this deadline might not be met.
We will overlook the fact that this is the Union’s first public action towards our plight since a 12th November 2024 release decrying the situation in ABH and Falase Hall; a release that was only made because Brownites demanded a memo be released. We will also overlook the silence adopted by Hall Executives in December as Brownites called for a Town Hall to address the electricity situation, opting instead to lock the ‘We Are Brownites’ group and then holding a giveaway upon re-opening. What is most important is what we do next as affected residents. In the end, we have to stand by the Students’ Union’s mobilisations once they begin, if at all they do. Brownites must be ready to show support for these public call-outs, contributing in person and virtually. Of course, per the University of Ibadan protocol and the ethics our profession demands, we must be civil and of appropriate conduct while we do so. Our voices have to be heard not just lamenting on groups but in the places we can be heard. Brownites should not expect residents on the main campus to cry more than we, the bereaved. It’s primarily our cross to bear, and bear we must. If and when a physical venue is announced, be there to speak up civilly and with respect for all. One mistake we must avoid is failing to spell out specific demands. The UI’ SU’s release was vague in that regard and it’s a mistake that mustn’t carry on to a physical mobilisation.
We’re at a point where silence is tantamount to quiet acceptance of the new normal, and ultimately, further erosion of the standards that have made this Hall one to watch for decades. We spoke our way to donations and contributions towards three hours of power daily. Now that that is gone, and can not be sustained even if new donations come in, we must return to the main issue at hand. Show up once the call is made. Be prepared to speak the truth to the world. For Heaven’s sake, the Alexander Brown Hall, and the University College Hospital, Ibadan, by extension, have been without power for 80 bad days! Shouldn’t that be enough?
It’s also important we keep this conversation alive on social media, in conversations with our friends, relatives, colleagues in other institutions, and anywhere else these words can be mentioned. We can not, must not, stop talking. Tag everyone that can be tagged. Call everyone that can be called. Be a nuisance if you must; moderately, of course. Everything else but staying quiet.
Finally, as unorthodox as it seems, there is a need to reconsider this resumption that many of us have taken upon ourselves, even with the strike. There is strength in absence, and if that’s what is required for our plight to be taken into consideration, so be it. This, of course, is left to individual deliberation, especially as some have commenced academic activities in 2025. This Hall is not home. It will not be home for a while. We must decide how soon we want that ‘while’ to be.
