Government, ASUU Feud Has Forced Us Into Menial Jobs-Students

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Students have been forced to stay home for over two months now due to the strike action embarked upon by their lecturers.

For some of the students, the strike has opened new opportunities for them to explore other positive ways to survive.

While some lament the impact of the strike on their academic plans, some of them share their experiences:

Chidi Nwamuo, a third year Estate Survey student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said because his parents are poor, staying in school had always been better for him, adding that the first few weeks of the ASUU strike was a nightmare in the house for him.

He said: “After staying at home for the first one month of the strike, I took the decision to help myself and assist the family as well. I had to go to one of the construction sites in Awka where I carry blocks to the masons”.

He, however, urged the Federal Government and the leadership of ASUU to consider the plight of the students by speeding up negotiations and reopen the universities.

Another student of Statistics at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Ada Okoli said she has become a newspaper vendor to keep herself busy.

According to her, she was not particularly doing it for money, but just to leave the house every morning.

Ogechi Kenneth, a student of Statistics at Abia State University, Uturu, said she has started learning how to do make-up and beads to make money for her studies. She explained that she chose to learn a trade in order to fight boredom and arm herself with skills to reduce dependence on her parents.

Miss Kenneth who is awaiting mobilisation for the mandatory National Youth Service Scheme, NYSC, insisted that she has always dreamt of being self-employed instead of working for government or private organisations.

An undergraduate student of the Department of Political Science, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Mrs. Happiness Ogbaga, said the strike has helped her to save money from a casual employment she secured in an establishment in the state.

Ogbaga, who said she has been finding it difficult to pay her tuition fees, explained that although the strike was not a development to rejoice about, the period has been beneficial to her in a way.

However, Mr. Emmanuel Njoku, an Economics student of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, AE-FUNAI, Ebonyi State, is full of sadness over the lingering strike action embarked upon by ASUU.

Also, a 400 level student of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, Blessing Ajogwu, expressed great disappointment over the lingering strike action. She told South-East Voice that the strike action has dashed her hope of graduating this year.

Miss Ajogwu, who is now holidaying in Edo State, also regretted that nobody sends her pocket money anymore since she is not in school.

Another 400 level student of Mass Communication, UNN, Emmanuel Ejiofor said the strike has afforded him an opportunity to finish his outstanding assignments and his project work.

He, however, expressed concern over the lingering strike action, urging his fellow students not to while away time but to learn a skill to empower themselves for financial sustainability upon graduation.

For Kelechi Ibeh, an English Language student, the strike action is frustrating, adding they have given up hope and resigned to fate.

A student of medicine and surgery at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, Ezekiel Odoabuchi expressed worry over the strike, lamenting that “it is not going well with university students now.”

Odoabuchi, however, maintained that ASUU is fighting for what rightfully belong to them, but regretted that the strike has set the students back, stopping them from graduating according to the academic calendar.

Source: vanguardngr.com
Edited by: Ngozi Anna Akunne.