Many will never forget February 14 when ASUU rang the bell of strike and grounded all academic activities as a means to reinforce her demands in the ears of her employers, who to the nation’s surprise did not blink an eyelid to the demands of the union, thereby halting the academic progression of thousands of university students.
The bell hit many students differently, as they had various things going on for them. The news that the Academic Staff Union of Universities had gone on strike caused some students to stand with their arms raised and with despondent expressions on their faces. The sudden change and the worry of being stuck at home useless for an undetermined amount of time overwhelmed many.
In the case of Mowa (not her real name), disclosed that she learnt tech skills to remain relevant intellectually and also create a career pathway for herself after school. She discovered Product design after one month of banking on her hopes that ASUU will call off the strike soon but she lost hope after 30 days and she found her interest in designing was ignited by the fear of being at home unproductive. In her words, “I ventured into taking design courses and working with that experience till they decide to resume.”
In the words of Albert, he worked as a bar attendant and hotelier at Bodija. “I resume work at 6 PM and I won’t sleep till I close at 5 AM. I did not see myself going back home during the strike, because I would be idle. I stayed back in school to make a living for myself, I also sold male clothes, and I had my shop on WhatsApp. Albert sees the strike as unnecessary and a waste of his time and intellectual capacity but he is optimistic that the strike was again a blessing in disguise as his financial status progressed.”
A category of students saw the disruption in their academic journey as mere wickedness and unpatriotism on the part of the parties in the contest and if their children were stuck in Federal institutions too the situation would have turned out differently. These few were home undecided about their response to the lingering strike till October 14, when the union decided to give conditional pause to the strike. For Precious (not her real name), the period was boring as I could not learn any skill both tech-wise and vocational-wise. “I was always indoors, taking care of the house, helping my siblings to school and returning them home. I became depressed and mentally exhausted as I was idle. I felt so useless doing nothing and it was frustrating, all I did was wait on ASUU to call off the strike. I was depressed when I saw my contemporaries in private universities graduating and proceeding to serve their fatherland.”
Life after strike
As the strike got a little over 6 months and no one saw an end in sight, the National Association of Nigerian Students’ efforts and threats fell on deaf ears, Nigerian Students gave up on returning to school this year. While many got full-time jobs and internship roles during the strike. They were in a dilemma as their focus will be divided between academics and their engagements during the strike.
“I resumed two weeks after the approved date for resumption, as some of my friends kept calling me that work has started properly and the workload is becoming cumbersome. I learnt product management during the strike and I got an internship role in a tech company in Lagos, this is the highlight of my year. Combining school with work is a herculean task, both are tasking. My efficiency at work has reduced drastically because I am engrossed with school activities”. These are the words of a final-year student in the department of political science.
Ayo got a job as a teacher in a secondary school in Ibadan, but she had to resign to focus on school activities. “I find It embarrassing that I am the grass that keeps suffering when the two Elephants fight, I got a job where I receive little stipend to maintain myself, I was in the middle of that when ASUU called the strike off, there was no way I can balance both teaching and schooling.”
Students are exhausted from combining their engagements during the strike with schooling. Many have abandoned the skills they’ve learnt during the skills, while some resigned from their roles, only a few have developed the capacity to combine both endeavours.
