Study on Staff Housing Needs of Nigerian University in Obafemi Awolowo Univeristy, Nigeria

The paper examines the housing stock in the Obafemi Awolowo University staff quarters in Nigeria and identified the various house types and their accommodation details. Housing is regarded as one of life's basic necessities and a requirement for human survival on a global scale. In a similar vein, proper staff housing in a university has been shown to have a significant impact on the university system. It also investigates the demand for accommodation units and the actual number of applicants accommodated in the staff quarters within the next five years. For data collection, archival records, questionnaires, and interviews were used. Questionnaires were sent to the Secretary of the Housing and Allocation Unit and the Estate Officer of the Obafemi Awolowo University's Division of Works and Maintenance. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The research showed that the university had a diverse range of house types, with 732 houses in the university staff quarters. Despite the fact that no additional housing units were provided over the decades, there was an annual rise in the number of applications for housing, mainly due to security concerns and the benefits of on-campus amenities. From 2011 to 2014, the average annual demand for accommodation was 492 at the senior staff quarters (SSQ) and 136 at the junior staff quarters (JSQ). During the same time period, however, the average available accommodation in both the SSQ and the JSQ was approximately 23 and 2 units, respectively. The paper concludes that the demand for housing units in both the senior and junior staff quarters were very high. While the challenges of insecurity of life and accommodation within the university staff quarters, the available houses were grossly inadequate to cater for the yearly demand for shelter in the university community.