OAU building: Abandoned basement gets new occupants

 

OAU Spider building: Abandoned basement become bats abode. 

 Adewale Zainab

Spider is one of the oldest and most gigantic buildings in the history of Obafemi Awolowo University. It was constructed by Israel Architects and is located at the far end of the university. The structure of the building is magnificent as the pillars supporting it are formed in the shape of spider legs. 

 

The Spider building, under the faculty of technology, was originally owned by the Civil Engineering department, but over the years, it has been shared with two other departments: the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Material Science and Engineering.

 

During one of my random visits to Spider, I explored the inside and outside of the building and discovered the staircase that leads to the basement of the building. While trying to go down with a phone flashlight because the place was dark, I was covered with a bad smell and, noticing the presence of bats in the basement, turned back. There are offices opposite the staircase, and also a classroom along the walkway close to the staircase, and students were seen moving around freely. 

 

In a conversation with a part 4 student of civil engineering, Akin-Adejumo Ireoluwa, he explained that the basement is waterlogged and has been abandoned for years due to its dilapidated condition. Spider is an ancient building. However, the basement is said to have been used by the department of mechanical engineering for receiving lectures and keeping their equipment before it became waterlogged, which led to it being abandoned, and then, it became inhabited by bats and began to produce a bad odor. "The smell doesn't affect us in any way as long as we don't go towards the staircase," he said. 

 

Another student from the department of mechanical engineering explained that there's nothing the lecturers can do concerning the place as the school management didn't see it as something serious or something they should spend their money on. He said "In my opinion, I believe the building is sinking as it has passed the ground level which makes water enter through the walls into the basement and over the years, it became messy and a home to the bats. To me, the place is risky and needs to be renovated. It's not until an accident happens before it can be given proper attention and also it's unavoidable if a trench can be dug round the building for water to pass through as a temporary solution". 

 

I had an interview with the department president of civil engineering students, Komolafe Tosin.

He said the basement was in use before, but due to a lack of maintenance, it had to be abandoned and animals now inhabit it. According to him, underground apartments always require a high level of maintenance, which that part of Spider lacks. He explained that the whole Spider building is not getting the required maintenance and claimed that it's not logical in the engineering world to renovate a part of a building and leave the remaining part untouched. "The whole Spider building has to be renovated to make it look new and attractive once again. But a rational client would rather abandon the idea of renovating a building like Spider and construct a new building instead. "That basement is not having an effect on the lifespan of the whole building as Spider was constructed in such a way that he doesn't see the building falling at all in the next 50 years, putting into consideration the type of strong materials used in constructing the building in the old days," he said. 

 

Also, in a conversation with an old professor of the department of civil engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Oladepo, he said the basement was waterlogged and that the first set of equipment kept there got damaged due to the wetness. Also, because there was no money to develop the place, they had to evacuate the place and abandon it. 

According to him, "the place has always been like that since 1989 and it's not a problem as the building can't go down because of that. It's just that we can't use the space. Speaking of the bats in the building basement, he said, "It's okay as that's their own home. They are living their own lives, and we are living our own lives, so nobody is disturbing one another. The odor coming from the basement doesn't affect us as there are laboratories used by staff and students adjacent to the staircase and nobody is complaining. We are used to it. "

When asked about a widely spread rumor of the building sinking, he explained that the building is not sinking in any way as it is built on a rock and that it's part of the rock that generated the water that entered the building. 

Furthermore, he confirmed that the basement belongs to mechanical engineering, and, of course, the university management is aware of the situation, but it doesn't have the capacity to sponsor the redevelopment. It is easier to get a space for another building than to revamp that place, as it requires much more money than constructing another building. The amount that will be used to make it better is enough to make another building. There's enough space. If we want another building, we can easily do that instead of losing millions of naira to sustain that place. We have been living with the bats for so long, so there's no trouble. " 

ICON Odunayo