FG Set To Unveil 1,600-Bed Hostel At Akwa Ibom State University
By EFFANGA OSOK
THE Federal Government and Family Homes Funds Limited, FHFL, are set to commission a 1,600-bed student hostel at Akwa Ibom State University, Ikot Akpaden.
The project marks the first university-level facility delivered under the National Student Housing Programme, NASHP.
FHFL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Abdul-Mutallab Mukhtar, disclosed the development in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.
Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State is expected to inaugurate the facility.
The Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, are also expected to take part in the event.
According to Mukhtar, the hostel forms part of a broader national effort to expand student accommodation across tertiary institutions.
The Federal Government designed the programme as a Public-Private Partnership involving FHFL, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, and the Student Housing Company, SHC.
Under the arrangement, FHFL provides development finance and manages the programme.
Meanwhile, TETFund supports the intervention through the tertiary education funding framework.
The Student Housing Company brings in private capital and will provide long-term facilities management.
Mukhtar said the partnership would reduce the financial burden on government and individual institutions.
The Akwa Ibom project represents the second completed site under the programme.
A similar student housing project at the College of Education, Warri, Delta State, was the first to reach completion.
Overall, the National Student Housing Programme targets 38,400 bed spaces across 24 tertiary institutions.
The institutions include 12 universities, six polytechnics and six colleges of education.
Each hostel project will provide 1,600 bed spaces across 400 en suite rooms.
Students will also have access to study tables, chairs and reading rooms.
The facilities will further include common rooms, cafeterias and laundry areas.
Beyond accommodation, Mukhtar said the programme would create economic opportunities.
Local contractors, artisans and suppliers will benefit during construction.
The completed facilities will also create permanent jobs through long-term management and maintenance.
The Akwa Ibom State University hostel therefore adds another project to the Federal Government’s wider push to improve living conditions for students and strengthen infrastructure across Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
