ASUU Strike: We’re grounded! –Campus traders groan

[Mirror]

That students and parents are casualties of the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, is in no doubt. There are other causalities too. THOMAS USHIE was at some campuses of the nation's ivory towers where traders and other support service providers bemoan their lot.

When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. So the adage goes. This can best describe the case of the casualties of the ongoing faceoff between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the Federal Government. And like John Pepper Clark's poem, "The Casualty" puts it the casualties are not only the dead.

Here too, not only the students and the academic staff are but they include traders and allied businesses owners within and around the various campus vicinities.

The book sellers, the business centre operators, the photographers, the food sellers, the cab and bus operators, even ice cream vendors are all lamenting the effect of the strike on them and their dependants.

And their prayer point is just but one, "may the Federal Government of Nigeria accede to ASUU's demands for the strike to end once and for all." At the University of Lagos, Baba Aliyu and his colleagues gathered in his bus discussing the gloom the prolonged strike has visited on them and their families.

One of his colleagues rested his head on the steering wheel and took a nap. He was snoring loudly. Hitherto, students who are their passengers queued to board their buses. But because of the strike, there is scarcity of students; there are no passengers to convey. And the question on their lips is "how would we survive?" "We cannot feed our family because of the strike.

Since the beginning of the week, if I told you that I have just N1,000 in my pocket would you believe it?" Baba Aliyu posed rhetorically. He dipped his right hand inside his pocket, brought out a wallet and emptied the content before the reporter. Brandishing the cash on him, he said: "Look, I have just N1,000. How would I have had much when there are no passengers?

Sometimes, we would spend like three to four hours at the bus station here before we can load a full trip of passengers. It is really saddening that this strike has taken this long. In fact, "e no easy, e no easy at all!" (It is difficult). I am appealing to the government to answer ASUU so that they can go back to the class rooms.

The children are roaming about and it is not good. Let the government and ASUU settle and end the strike. If not that I am the owner of the bus, how would I deliver (pay) to the owner?" Baba Aliyu groaned. Another campus shuttle operator who spoke with Saturday Mirror lamented the fact that his wife gave birth "in this trying moment", adding much to the challenges confronting his family as a result of the strike.

"My wife gave birth to our new baby two months ago. I have exhausted all my savings to settle the hospital bills and other things she and the baby need. Now, my pocket is empty. Look," calling the reporter's attention to his wallet, "this is all I have. This is all a family man, with wife and children to take care of, has left in his pocket. How far can this take me?

I have needs to meet on a daily basis and if the strike did not end, it would be really, really difficult to survive. The government should please liaise with ASUU and ensure that their differences are resolved so that the country can move forward," an obviously distraught Koku Agbelekute enjoined.

On his part, Clever Nwosu, a bookshop owner on the campus, lamented that he decided to be opening his shop despite the low and sometimes, zero patronage just to escape from the agony of staying at home without meeting the smallest of the needs of his children, else he would have closed his shop until the industrial action is resolved and students return to the campus.

"There is no business. Since morning, I have not sold even one book. I just choose to be opening the shop just to stay away from the pain of staying at home and being unable to meet the needs of the children whenever they ask for even the little things that N100 can afford," Nwosu rued.

Continuing, he exclaimed: "The strike has grounded me! Business is grounded. We are grounded!" while lamenting that "Life has been so hard without an income. Sometimes, I would be fortunate to make sales at give away price just to have little money in my pocket for feeding. Some final year students who have been hanging around do stroll and branch in to patronize us occasionally but the whole thing is not just worth it.

We cannot wake up in the morning and leave to the campus with assurances that there would be money to make. And the more painful thing is that there are challenges of paying our bills at home and meeting the family's needs.

When students are on campus, no matter how bad the sales were, we are sure of going home with something to feed our families. The time is 4.45 p.m. and I have not taken even my breakfast. It is not easy at all. The government should answer ASUU immediately so that the strike would be called off, saving us and our children the pains we have been facing."

A photocopier operator on another campus, the Lagos State University, LASU, Saturday Mirror visited, narrated a chilling ordeal of his colleagues while branding himself as "fortunate".

"The strike has been so harsh, very harsh on us and our family. Business is nil and there is no money to spend. I am somehow fortunate to have had some post graduate student customers who brought several books from the library for me to photocopy for them. My friend at the other side has been idle for the past seven weeks. The last time I gave him just N200, he was dancing as if he won lottery.

And this is a family man who has responsibilities to take care of. Sadly, the way and manner the Federal Government is handling the crisis does not give us hope that there is an end in sight. The government and ASUU should please come to an understanding and end this strike,", Jide Owolabi, advised.

A business centre operator who simply identified himself as Ola, while anchoring his hope on God for survival, lamented the cruel existential condition on campuses, without the students: "God is in control. It is only God that we can depend on in this trying time. The school is almost empty and there is no magic to perform to enjoy patronage as a campus business centre operator. Our customers are largely students and staff. So, when they are not on campus, our chances of survival are very slim because there won't be business.

When the students were on campus, we could make between N5, 000 and N7,000 in a day but now, to make N200 is very difficult, except if we have customers from outside the campus.

Those selling food are affected, we business centre operators are affected, the cabs operators are affected, everybody on campus and outside the gates are also affected. The whole thing has been so cruel because to cater for the family has been very difficult. I don't think that the government is really bothered about the people.

They don't just care. What ASUU is asking is genuine and would have positive impact on the country in general so I wonder why the government is foot-dragging. The infrastructures on campuses are dilapidated and the earlier the government listens to the grievances of ASUU and start implementing the agreement, the better for us all".

A photographer on campus, Daniel Jegbefuhen, said that the period the strike has lasted is like the days the locusts invaded and wrecked havoc on a blossoming farm, the days of wastes. "It is almost four months since the strike commenced. That translates to about four months of wastes not only on the path of the students and staff, but also on business operators on campuses across the country. It is so sad sitting here from morning to evening without people walking in to snap.

It is the students that make the campuses what it is and their absence is a real setback for businesses. The pain of the strike started biting us slowly and now, it is just too much for us to bear.

Look around, you can count the number of students and staff on campus. That means bad market for all of us. Nowadays, before I can snap three people in a day, is very difficult.

The strike has been biting us so hard that even the home front is suffering. We are praying daily for the Federal Government to meet ASUU's demand so that normalcy can return to the campus and businesses would boom again for us to put food on our families' table," Daniel lamented. The negative impact of the strike is gravitating beyond the campuses; affecting those operating businesses proximity to the university vicinities. As it is often said, when two elephants fight, the grasses feel the impact the most.

A book seller who simply identified himself as Friday plying his trade at a market closed to the campus, while lamenting his loss, said that the government has not been proactive and responsive to the needs of the people. "To say that the strike is affecting my business is to say the obvious. As you can see, I deal in books.

Who are the major people that read these books? It is the students. The students buy the text books, recommended books, novels and other books in general that catch their fancies.

These students come from far and near to the universities. Look at me, I will labour in the morning to pack the books down here and at the end of the day, I can't sell up to two books. How do I recover the transport fare? How do I pay those who carried the books down here? How would I pay my bills? How would I take care of the needs of my family?

More painfully, how would we survive? Things are really very difficult because of the strike. This market is located close to Unilag and other campuses and they are the one that really patronize us.

"So, when academic activities are paralysed, my business is also paralyzed because there won't be students to patronize me. Things have been so hard since this strike started. It is getting to four months now and that means four months of pain, four months of no business and no money, four months of hunger and economic torture. It has not been easy at all.

The Federal Government should put all the necessary efforts and end the strike. These students who have been forced to stay at home due to the strike, are supposed to be the future of this country. But look at what our government is doing to them. Unfortunately, the children of those enjoying themselves in the federal level, are not schooling in Nigeria so they don't really bother about the common people. That is why the strike has lingered this long.

The government should listen to voices of reasons, be responsive to the needs of the people, negotiate with the ASUU and end the strike immediately," Friday posited.

Speaking in the same vein, Abdul Yusuf, who sells bag at the popular Yaba Market, said that "My major customers are the students, especially those in the tertiary institutions.

So, the strike is affecting my business so much. When you came, you saw us idle and playing around just to cool down our tempers and calm the stress. This is because there is no business. Business is not moving because of the strike. Business is so dull and I am feeling the pains. What the government is doing is not good. How would they allow the students to stay at home for this long when they are supposed to be in school?

I am pleading with the government of Goodluck Jonathan to please, give us good luck and ensure that the strike ends before the end of this month because it is affecting our businesses and our families who depend on us for their needs". Harping on President Jonathan's campaign slogan, Soji Olaniyi said that their survival to also "wear shoes" like the President depends on the end to the protracted strike. "The strike has paralysed our life.

Our president, Jonathan, told us during his campaign that once upon a time, he had no shoes and that if he can make it, we too can also make it. But how can we make it, how can our brothers and sisters who suppose to be in school, make it to the level he did by staying at home because of strike, how can they achieve their dreams without good education, which is what ASUU is advocating?

President Jonathan should demonstrate that the common Nigerians who cannot go to private universities or abroad for their education, can also make it and wear shoes just like him, by calling off the strike before the end of this month so that students can return back to the campus and business would start again, Soji Olaniyi, a business centre operator, advised.

Source: ASUU Strike: We're grounded! –Campus traders groan