The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) recently commenced a 4-week nationwide strike.
National President of the union, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke said the strike which will be comprehensive and total would last for an initial period of four weeks in the hopes of getting the Federal Government to commit to agreements earlier reached.
The strike, although seems short, but considering previous history, could be extended for months, a reality we have experienced over and over again. The industrial action carried out by the lecturers usually results in multiple consequences – not only academic but also economic, which affects businesses operated on the campuses which always relies on the student economy to survive.
Read: ASUU strike: Students bemoan frequent interruptions to school calendar
Nairametrics spoke to a few student entrepreneurs in various Nigerian universities and they expressed concern over the strike which they admit has put a strain on the level of patronage of their businesses.
Eunice Adebayo, a tailor who owns the TeeWhy Stitches on the campus of the University of Ibadan said that though her customers are open to her sending their orders through readily available logistic workers, it comes with its own challenges.
“I get a lot of patronage from my fellow students when they are on campus, but when they return back to their different homes, it is only normal for them to patronise tailors in their locality. Only a few loyal customers will have the patience to wait till they get back to you when school resumes. And sometimes when they factor in the logistics cost of sending the fabric to me and receiving the finished dress, they are sometimes discouraged,” Adebayo said.
Read: ASUU strike: UNIBEN students protest, cause gridlock on Benin-Ore-Sagamu road
Samson Friday owner of Eva Popcorn also at the University of Ibadan says he used to make a profit of about N17,000 a week from his business, but since the strike, his profit has reduced to about N10,000 which amounts to a loss of about 40%.
For Taiwo and Kehinde Ogunmola who own a food canteen on the premises of the Lagos State University, it is almost impossible to have patronage when the school is closed as a result of a strike action. They say business becomes very slow and at some point, they may have to reduce the staff strength until students return to campus.
“When school activities are on, we keep no less than 6 staff to cook and cater to orders because then patronage is high, but when there is a strike, we have to let go about half of them because there would be very few customers to serve then,” Kehinde said.
Lamenting the incessant strike, Taiwo said, “We started running this restaurant when were students on this campus and that was about 8 years ago. From then till now, I can’t count the number of times our business has had to shutdown because of one strike or the other.”
For Uche Madu who owns a boutique around the vicinity of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, his business depends on the availability of students and the strikes always gravely affect his business.
“Where this school is located is more or less a village and it is the student community that makes it bubble. They are the ones that patronise the bikes, cabs, supermarkets, bars and other places. The indigenes don’t patronise us that much. To be honest, 97% of our patrons are students, so you can imagine what happens when they have to return to their various homes over a strike,” Madu said.
Oscar Akpan, a 400level Economics student of the University of Lagos runs a business centre in the campus. He says he makes an average of N12,000 every school day from photocopying, printing of documents, spiral binding of documents and other services.
“The frequent strikes are retrogressive to our businesses. I wouldn’t lie, I make enough money from my business, enough that I even hired 2 staff to man the place when I go for classes. I just paid my rent last month and imagine if the strike prolongs, I would not only make less money, but also lose time on rent paid,” Akpan said.
It is evident from our respondents that businesses in the universities always get to suffer when ASUU goes on these strikes. The university campuses which was originally designed as a learning environment has also become a breeding ground for thriving small businesses as they service students and other campus residents.
These businesses not only support life on campus, but they also offer means of livelihood for the service providers and their dependants. One can easily understand how closures of the campuses result in loss of source of income which contributes to poverty in the economy.
The Federal Government will today be meeting with ASUU and other relevant government agencies in order to resolve the issues surrounding the ongoing strike. It is hoped that all parties reach a cordial agreement that would spur the return of not only academic activities, but also economic activities to the university campuses.
