ASUU Strike: Campus Business Operators, Transporters Lament Losses

Some business owners, transporters and others who provide services on University campuses have decried the negative impact of the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union Universities (ASUU).

The entrepreneurs and transporters are hard hit by the strikes which started on February 14, 2022 and is already in its fourth month.

ASUU had been at loggerheads with the federal government over its refusal to honour the 2009 agreement it entered with the Union.

The demands in the agreements included condition of service of varsity lecturers to be reviewed every five years, issue of salaries and allowances, revitalisation of public universities among other issues, University Transparency Accountability Solution and the inconsistencies in Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System Payment.

LEADERSHIP observed that most businesses in the campuses are suffering because students who patronise them are at home as a result of the strike. At the entrance of the University of Abuja, the once crowded tricycle park can be seen deserted.

While some of the business owners have closed their shops, waiting for students to resume, others, especially transporters, abandoned their tricycles for farming and other activities in order to earn a living.

A pastry chef at university of Abuja who identifies herself Glory, said the number of his customers had drastically reduced, hence his business is suffering.

She said, “Students and visitors form a greater number of my customers, but they are no longer on campus. So the demand for cakes I bake has drastically reduced and I no longer make much profit.

“I used to save extra money for future use, apart from my main savings, but right now, I do not have enough savings,” she said.

Also, a business centre owner said the presence of students in the school premises strengthened his business and their absence has seriously affected his operations. “My business is no longer doing well unlike before. The strike just like it is affecting parents and students. Most times I open my shop from morning till night and end up not getting any money at all.”

A tricycle driver, identified simply as Ahmed Yusuf said with no end in sight for the strike, some of his friends were forced to stop operating due to low patronage.

“Most people who own tricycles are no longer coming. Some have relocated to other parts of town. There is nothing more killing than this strike because since it has started we no longer see passengers as before.

“I am praying that the strike ends soon because many of us have been struggling to eat with our families as we relied on this income,” he said.