{"id":1892,"date":"2026-07-16T22:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T21:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2026-07-18T08:44:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:44:33","slug":"rising-rent-and-harsh-economy-push-students-to-the-brink-in-abraka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=1892","title":{"rendered":"Rising Rent and Harsh Economy Push Students to the Brink in Abraka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Ifeoma Ogochukwu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rising cost of accommodation in Abraka is placing increasing financial pressure on students of Delta State University (DELSU), as landlords cite Nigeria’s economic challenges and escalating property maintenance costs as reasons for frequent rent increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students living off campus say the combined burden of high rent, rising food prices, and transportation costs has made it increasingly difficult to meet their financial obligations while pursuing their studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A landlord interviewed attributed the increase in rent to the growing cost of maintaining residential properties. According to him, expenses such as pumping water, repairing damaged facilities, and maintaining the compound have continued to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes things get damaged in the compound, and landlords have to fix them. Tenants don\u2019t always take care of these things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to calls for lower rents, the landlord maintained that reducing accommodation fees was not feasible under the current economic conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings are getting more expensive every day. Building materials and house plans are changing. At any time, properties can be renovated or rebuilt for better use. So reducing rent is not realistic,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students, however, argued that the high cost of accommodation has forced many of them to seek alternative sources of income to support their education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss Chidinma, a DELSU student who runs a small catering business producing cakes and doughnuts, said balancing academics with entrepreneurship has become necessary for survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has not been easy,\u201d she said. \u201cI thank God I am managing financially, but sometimes I don\u2019t even sell everything I make. I end up carrying them back home or giving them out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the increasing cost of baking ingredients and declining patronage have reduced her profit margin despite the growing need to earn extra income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the way things are now, not every student\u2019s parents can afford everything. That\u2019s why many of us are doing side hustles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Findings indicate that many students in Abraka are struggling to cope with the combined effects of rising accommodation costs, inflation, and limited financial support. While landlords insist that higher rents are necessary to cover increasing maintenance expenses, students continue to appeal for more affordable housing options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observers believe that improving access to affordable student accommodation and addressing broader economic challenges could help reduce the financial burden on students and create a more conducive learning environment in the university community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ifeoma Ogochukwu The rising cost of accommodation in Abraka is placing increasing financial pressure on students of Delta State University (DELSU), as landlords cite Nigeria’s economic challenges and escalating property maintenance costs as reasons for frequent rent increases. Students living off campus say the combined burden of high rent, rising food prices, and transportation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":21,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,35,14],"tags":[31,25,26,520],"class_list":["post-1892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-education","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-delsu","tag-education","tag-housing-challenges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2068,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/2068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}