Government Allocates N250 Billion for Dormitory Development at Universities and Colleges, Says Alausa

The Federal government has allocated approximately N250 billion for the construction of hostels in tertiary institutions across the country this year, as announced on Friday.

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This significant investment is part of the administration of President Bola Tinubu's efforts to empower youths, with the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, emphasizing the government's commitment to providing support for young people.

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Dr Alausa provided a breakdown of the N250 billion allocation, explaining that N100 billion will be spent on building new hostels, with N2 billion earmarked for each of the over 50 tertiary institutions to construct 500 spaces of student hotels.

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In addition to this, 24 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) hostels with a capacity of at least 1,200 to 1,500 bed spaces will be built across 24 tertiary institutions, including the Lagos State University (LASU), with the federal government's TETFUND contributing one billion and private investors contributing three billion.

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This partnership will result in an additional N96 billion being invested in the construction of 24 hostels across 24 institutions, further increasing the overall allocation for hostel development.

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A further N1 billion will be spent on delivering at least 300 bed spaces of hostels in another 24 tertiary institutions, bringing the total investment to approximately N250 billion in 2026 alone.

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The Minister of Education stated that the completion period for the PPP hostels is 24 months, while the hostels funded by the over N200 billion allocation will be completed in less than 12 months.

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According to the Commissioner for Tertiary Education in Lagos State, Honourable Tolani Sule, the Federal Government's promise to provide uninterrupted power supply to LASU will save the institution around N200 million yearly on diesel and fuel costs.

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In a related development, the Rector of Yaba College of Technology, Dr Ibraheem Abdul, described the accommodation challenge at the college as having reached a pandemic level, with a student population of 36,000 and only 2,600 hostel bed spaces available.

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Dr Abdul expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu and the Honourable Minister for their support, stating that the project will help alleviate the accommodation challenge to some extent.

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The Managing Director of the company handling the project, Mr Olayinka Kusemiju, promised to deliver the project as scheduled, ensuring timely completion of the hostel development.