BY OLUFISOYE ADENITAN
One of the items of sustainable development goals is access to quality education.
In Nigeria at present however , over seven months ASUU strike has destabilized the school’s academic calendar and also crippled business activities around the Varsities .
In this special report, our correspondent examines the impact of the strike on both students and business owners within and around the institutions
The seven months plus strike did not only affect business activities, academic calendar has been destabilize for the past few months
According to a business owner around the federal university of Technology FUTA Akure, Mrs oluwakemi Sanya said she suffered a monumental loss with the ongoing strike with about 50% low sales of her goods
Another trader ,Mrs Bola Akomolafe said many business arenas in the campus had been overgrown with weeds even as edible products worth millions of naira had been destroyed owing to the strike.
Stories of students were quite different from the scenario portrayed by the business owners as the students claimed they diverted their energies into profitable and worthwhile ventures as revealed by a 200 level political science student of the university of Ibadan, Abdulrahman Adebayo.
“I currently work as freelance reporter since the ASUU strike 7months ago,it is so pathetic that tertiary institutions can be shut when there is no pandemic or war Abdulraham Adebayo said ”
Similarly, his countertpart in the Usman Dan fodio University sokoto ,Abdul malik sufurullaahi said that the strike was affecting his mental health considering the fact this education had now been put on hold as a final year student
A visually impaired young man, Oyediran Emmanuel from the university of Lagos disclosed that he had been engaged as volunteer to civil society organisations to keep body and soul together .
Other students who spoke to Positive fm, Oluwatuase Olatomiwa of the Olusegun Agagu university of science and technology okitipupa, Ondo state, Alofe Faith, Obafemi Awolowo university Ile ife, Ewuje Precious and Peace Oladipo of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti however called for a compromise between government and ASUU for the schools to reopen in no due time for the future of the nations education system.
In a submission ,a university lecturer , Dr Gbenga Abimbola expressed displeasure with the poor handling of university education by government due to poor and outdated policies that endanger the country’s education system
Dr Abimbola called for a synergy between government and ASUU to put an end to the ongoing strike