By Veronica Dariya
Some university students say that they have since started acquiring different skills and part time jobs as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) continues to down tools.
The students, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Bwari, Abuja said that they took the opportunity to learn the skills and be engaged in some jobs to support themselves.
NAN reports that ASUU again extended its strike for the fourth time, indefinitely after the union’s National Executive Council met at its headquarters at the University of Abuja on Monday.
The union embarked on the strike on Feb. 14 demanding for a renegotiation of agreements reached between it and the government in 2009 and other issues yet unresolved.
Miss Daniella Audu, a student of Bayero University Kano (BUK), said that she since the commencement of the strike, she became a trainee in a tailoring centre.
She said that she started learning the skill some years back with her aunt, a professional tailor but stopped after she gained admissions in the university to study Accounting.
She however said that the strike gave her the opportunity to return to perfecting the skill.
“I’m just in my second year in school.
“When they decide to call off the action, I will return but I will not waste my time doing nothing. We didn’t know it will take this long and still don’t know how long it will last.
“I should be able to have something to hold on to and support myself and my parents. Life is hard now, plus I already have passion for tailoring.”
Audu added that it was quite unfortunate that both the Federal Government and the university union could not address the matter amicably, all at the detriment of the students.
She however prayed that the situation did not last the entire year.
Mr Rotimi Ado, another student said that he learned baking from his mother and now had a part time job with a small cafeteria where he was being paid N25, 000 monthly for his services.
Ado said he started the part-time job in April after he noticed that the strike was not going to be called off soon.
According to him, he has so far been able to save little from his labour to add to what his parents would give him when the strike was called off.
He however showed concern on how the strike might affect some students who might not be able to serve the nation through the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the end of their studies.
“These category of students may be affected by the age limit of the service by the time the strike is called off.
“It’s just unfortunate because there are some people that didn’t start school on time due to financial or other factors and then this sort of thing happens.
“You will see that by the time the schools are stable, time which cannot be recovered, has since passed and will definitely affect their time for service.
“Imagine someone who’s a final year student and is probably 29 years old this year. If we don’t go back this year, or perhaps go back at year end, they definitely cannot meet up. It’s sad and disheartening.”
Another student, Miss Lucy Ibrahim, a student of Kaduna State University (KASU) said that her school earlier in August, asked students to resume and commence lectures and pending examinations.
She however noted that not all faculties and departments were able to write the examinations and lectures were yet to commence up till now.
She described the situation as “annoyingly confusing”, saying as the lecturers and the government were toying with the future of students, “who are youths and said to be the future leaders of the country’’.
“They say go to school and secure a certificate before you get a good job. This is what we are doing, yet we have become the ground for two elephants to fight on. It is unfair.
“Many of us used the opportunity to work while at home. Some of my friends even went to farm but couldn’t do much because of fear of bandits and kidnappers.
“Some have cars and went into transportation business.
“What we fail to understand is that a lot of people are affected by this strike and not the students and teachers alone.
“Calculate the money Keke riders and taxi drivers taking people to school locations have missed; the food sellers in the school, the people selling provisions in the hostels and off campus.
“The business centres too. If you look at it critically, the entire society is affected by this strike in one way or the other and it is not good for us.
“However, I urge the students to hold on to skills they have learnt and are still learning because that may become the major source of income for them in the future,” Ibrahim said.
She also urged both the Federal Government and ASUU to look beyond their interests and prioritise in the education sector for national development. (NAN)
