In a document released by the University Management concerning accommodation in the Halls of Residence for the 2021/2022 academic session, a major requirement is that all students resident in these halls must be vaccinated against COVID-19. 

According to an article released by the World Health Organization, the vaccine alone is not enough to protect the world’s populace from the pandemic, there is still a need to follow other preventive measures such as wearing masks, maintaining levels of physical and social distancing. 

“Safe and effective vaccines are a game-changing tool: but for the foreseeable future we must continue wearing masks, cleaning our hands, ensuring good ventilation indoors, physically distancing and avoiding crowds.”

While asking students who wish to be accommodated in the halls of residence to be fully vaccinated is an applaudable decision to safeguard the lives of people in these halls, one must also take a moment to ponder on how the university intends to enforce this regulation and other preventive measures. 

In the 2020/2021 academic session, various preventive measures were taken to protect against COVID-19. However, many of these measures were not enforced totally or even enforced at all.

There was the mandatory wearing of face masks before entering the school, which was relaxed at various points. As at the time of publication, it appears now that the school has reinforced this rule as there are now security officials making sure that people wear their face masks before entering the school premises. 

However, how does the university seek to make students wear their face masks always?  Perhaps, the university can appoint officials at various points of the university to make sure that the students cooperate with this from the school gate up to their various lecture rooms. The school can also work hand-in-hand with cab drivers, faculty presidents, class reps, and others to ensure this.

Moving on, another preventive measure against COVID-19 in the halls of residence is that students who are looking to secure accommodation are “required to wash hands frequently, but certainly upon returning to the halls of residence”. This again raises the question of how the University seeks to enforce this, both in the halls and the general university community. 

Will washbasins be placed at strategic locations in the university? For the faculty of Arts whose water supply is not consistent, how will enough water supply be provided for students to wash their hands?

The school management also orders that at least till the end of the first semester, only Hall residents will be permitted in the halls of residence. However, how does it intend to enforce this law in a hall like Nnamdi Azikwe? 

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On Vaccination

While asking students to be vaccinated is a good idea, is there a way the university plans to prevent cases of students presenting fake vaccination cards? 

On the 29th of December, 2021, the Guardian reported that vaccine cards were being procured without jabs. Also, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, around the same time, spoke about how Nigerians were procuring fake COVID test results and/or vaccination cards for travel purposes. 

Is there a way the University of Ibadan plans to ascertain that each vaccination card that will be presented is genuine?

There are also cases of people receiving the jabs of the vaccine without their cards being given to them, does the management have a provision that covers this category of people?

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General Compliance

Being vaccinated against Covid 19 does not automatically translate to being fully immunized against it. There is a need to supplement this with other preventive measures. 

So while it is good that the university wants only students that have been vaccinated to reside in the halls of residence, we sure hope that there are measures in place to ensure that this, along with other preventive measures, is enforced.  

We also hope that there will be measures to guide against the spread of Coronavirus in the general university community. After all, are students in the halls of residence really safe when the larger part of the university’s population, with whom they interact on a daily basis, do not adhere to these laws?