By Tony Adibe
Years of alleged gross neglect by previous administrations reportedly left the male hostel at the Federal College of Land Resources Technology (FECOLART), Owerri, deserted by students, despite students having paid hostel fees, NewsBits was informed.
The students are said to be residing off campus, where they claimed they have access to potable water that had stopped running in their hostel for years after the mono-pump became faulty and abandoned.
“Lack of proper maintenance, which is a purely administrative issue, is the main problem facing the male hostel. The condition of the hostel is pitiable and deplorable. They have to reroof the place,” an inside source disclosed to NewsBits.
Recall that the challenge of accommodation on the campus was listed as one of the ‘little challenges’ by the Provost, Dr. Eberechukwu Bede Onwujiariri, during the 32nd matriculation ceremony of the institution held on May 22, 2026.
He told the huge gathering that the management under his leadership has identified some “key grey areas” in the institution, such as power, security, accommodation, crops and animal agriculture development, entrepreneurship, and transport and recreational facilities.
Dr Onwujiariri said, “It is my unshakeable resolve that the little challenges being faced in the above-mentioned areas would be tackled head-on and will soon be in the past.”
NewsBits reports that the provost’s listing of accommodation and security as among the grey areas also raises concerns being expressed by male students who are said to have deserted the male hostel on the campus, even after payment of hostel fees. The male students claimed that there is acute water scarcity affecting them in the hostel where, they alleged, the mono-pump handle got damaged over the years.
“The hostel was terribly neglected by the immediate past administration; otherwise the mono-pump handle would have been fixed a long time ago, and that would have put a stop to male students abandoning their hostel to live off campus,” one student said.
“If management during the past administration knew very well that the living condition of the hostel is nothing to write home about owing to lack of potable water, why collect hostel payments from unsuspecting male students only for them to vacate the hostel and live off campus? We hope that the new problem-solving administration of Dr Onwujiariri, which seems more focused and student-oriented, will give the challenge the urgent attention it deserves,” the student added.
Another male student asked: “Can the staff of the school allow their own sons to live in such an uncomfortable hostel in its present condition? The last administration never cared about the bad situation of the hostel. We hope the current administration under an Igbo man will be different. We heard that the Provost, who is the CEO of the College, recruited about 126 staff. It’s not a bad development, but it will be a good development, too if the male hostel is put in habitable condition.”
