BED 101: Your Simple Hack for Securing UNILAG Bedspace

Oritsejolomi Otomewo.

After the end of a wonderful (coughs) 2019/2020 academic session, we are at the cusp of a new session. That means it is time for all who are fortunate (coughs again, hope this is not Covid) to be running a full-time undergraduate degree program at the University of Lagos, to ballot for bedspaces.

Balloting poses a huge problem for freshers and staylites alike. This article will help you understand the process. It is probably the best you will ever read on this.

Balloting is the process of securing a bedspace in the hostels provided by the University i.e. How you, Unilag, your internet connection, and your amiable village people ( do you expect me to call them wicked when I have not yet secured my space?), decide whether you will sleep at the lagoon front or not.

Yeah, I know you have been allocated a hostel when you paid your school fees. However, you still need to ballot for a bedspace to be able to move into the hostel -that is if you’re planning to stay on campus, cheaply, comfortably, and legally.

If you are a senior man or woman and the thought of on-campus accommodation with a steady power supply and water does not excite you, then you can stop reading now. Sorry for disturbing you, boss. The rest of you commoners (like myself) can continue.

After paying your fees, you are allowed a hostel -also called a hall of residence- where you will battle with friend and foe for a bedspace to lay your weary head after long hard days of painstaking education.

The DSA (Division for Student Affairs) is in charge of this exercise as it is a students affair so if you have any complaints you know where to go.

A date is usually announced. This year’s balloting exercise for staylites has been scheduled for the 28th of October, which is tomorrow – don’t go and think it’s still far. Freshers will fight their own battle sometime in the nearest future, may the force be with them. Along with this, a time has been set, (8 am to 4 pm). You can always start by 5 pm, far be it from us to tell you what to do.

• On the fixed day, you log in to your student portal at www.studentportal.unilag.edu.ng. It is best to have logged in a few minutes before the set time except of course you want to play Russian roulette with your accommodation.

• So you log in using your matric number (as the case may be) with your password or you can try mine (Starboyjolomi2021$$$). When it is the set time, you will see an icon on your dashboard after you have logged in. It is usually located under applications. You will see the “accommodation” icon. Click on it. If it isn’t there, you can refresh the page and check again.

• If your internet connection is really good, I mean super good, it should take you to another page with a list of hostels including your hall of residence. It is best to start from there. After clicking on your hall of residence, you will get to a page with instructions on conduct in the hostel and the fee to be paid (usually 25,500 nairas only). Don’t get carried away, you don’t have a space yet!

• Scroll down to the bottom and you will see ‘reserve bed space. Click on that. If you’re lucky, you will receive a notification “bedspace successfully reserved“. If not “bedspace not reserved, try again later” or “there are currently no more available spaces in this hall”. The latter means that all available spaces in that hall have been taken (coughs, I should probably take some antibiotics).

• So you can proceed back to the page where other halls are and click on any, repeat the same processes. Keep trying until you’re successful.

• Did I tell you that you need a strong internet connection to ballot successfully? You do. A lot of people would be trying it at the same time and in the same way erosion can never taste like Ovaltine, you don’t expect (except by a miracle of course) 2G to be faster than 4G.

• Using a cybercafe is also advisable. Some Android phones might do it well but it works better with a system. Also, the best internet browser to use is Google Chrome, the site works well there. Microsoft Edge has also been known to do wonders. However, you can also try Internet Explorer because here at UnilagSun we advocate for inclusion and diversity.

• It is advisable to open more than one browser for faster access. Having someone else help you with it while you try from your end is also good. We know that some comrades even give their log-in details to their friends who stay abroad. Whatever works for you. But be careful who you give your details to, UnilagSun will not be held responsible if you suddenly find out that you have deferred your admission.

We hope you get a space in your desired hall of residence. We do. If you have further questions, drop in the comments below. Let us know if this was helpful.