As the nation hopes for a quick resolution of the five-month old strike by the academic staff of universities, students, parents, business people and other Nigerians in Jos speak on how the strike has affected them.
Like a joke, the strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, is going into the sixth month. When it started on July 1, 2013, many had expected it to last only a few weeks. Many students were initially reluctant to leave school for home expecting the strike to be suspended ‘soon’. Their expectation has been dashed and the strike has dragged from weeks to months clocking almost half a year.
The negotiations between the Federal Government and ASUU since the strike started is yet to result in any positive development. Although hope rose following a meeting of the ASUU leadership with a government team led by President Goodluck Jonathan, which was said to have lasted about 14 hours, certain developments seem to have compounded the situation resulting in further frustration for students, their parents and other Nigerians.
File: LASU Students
While some claimed the meeting was suspended indefinitely, the social media was awash with speculations, mostly unfounded, that ASUU would not meet until January. The rumor aggravated the distress of all those concerned who want an end to the strike. Contrary to the speculations, however, the meeting eventually held penultimate week but the outcome was equally disappointing to many as, rather than an announcement of an end to the strike, ASUU came up with some conditions that must be met for the strike to be called off. Many Nigerians have continued to appeal to ASUU to call its members back to work because of the immediate effect of the strike on students, their parents and others, as well as the long term damage it would do to the education sector and the society at large.
Many cite the danger of leaving vibrant youths idle for a long time which could lead them into unhealthy behavior. Some even claim that many students have taken to crime, prostitution and other vices as Satan finds work for their idle hands. Students have themselves expressed their frustration at different fora for losing valuable time they should be using for studies and moving towards their goals in life to a prolonged strike.
Ukah Emele, a 400 level student of the University of Jos, expressed his feelings thus: “The strike has affected me nearly in every aspect. I practically feel like five months have been deleted out of my life already. I mean, I would have been a graduate today and possibly serving my fatherland. In as much as I have been able to do a few things, I would have done a lot more if I had graduated as scheduled. I am losing flair for academics, no thanks to the FG/ASSU situation.”
Another student, Philip Ekigwe, said the strike has devastated him emotionally putting a cog in the wheel of his dreams. “I’ll say the prolonged ASUU strike has affected me negatively. It is so because not only has the strike devasted me emotionally, it has also forcefully put me behind my schedule of progress. It has shortened my elaborate plans for the future to a mere dream that breaks with the break of dawn. You can imagine a four-year degree programme which I had hoped to complete in 2012 now dragging to God knows when”, Ekigwe said.
“With the strike all my plans are shattered and yet I cannot plan further. It has made me less enthusiastic about reading and education. In session, schooling makes the mind active and searching. But the strike has made me lazy and dull. I can’t remember the number of times I had need of my books since the strike commenced”.
In the absence of much to do and the lack of interest in studying occasioned by the lack of an idea of when the strike would end, students spoken to said they have been finding ways of keeping busy to engage their minds. For Emmanuel Kalu, who is lucky to be skilled in computer programming, he has been working “to keep my mind busy.” He, however, expressed concern that the situation was not pleasant as students who opt to work often have to settle for menial jobs because they are unqualified for professional jobs. He agreed that the situation could lead to increase in crime and prostitution.
Emele was also worried about the possible backlash of the strike, noting, “we have seen crime rates soaring since this industrial action started. Take a look at the social media, it is all about the book of lamentations, report of all sorts of wrong activities occasioned by idleness – rape, armed robbery, unwanted pregnancies, prostitution and possibly suicides.”
The students are not alone in the lament as parents are equally grief-stricken seeing their children idling away for months. Those interviewed said they have had to incur additional expenses feeding and taking care of their children and wards much more than when schools were in session. According to Ambrose Amali, whose three undergraduate students are affected by the strike, “the children seem to consume more because of idleness. Initially I was harsh on them blaming them for being wasteful as their constant report of this or that has finished was upsetting my budget, but I now try to understand their frustration.” see more..
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