By Fatima Usman
The saying, “when two elephants fight, the grass gets to suffer,” is nothing but a fact. But unfortunately, in the case of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government (FG), the students are always at the receiving end, and students suffer the consequences of the fight.
At last, ASUU members will get paid and return to classes. What then happens to the students?
In 2020, when ASUU embarked on a strike that lasted for a good nine months coupled with COVID19, what did the students get in return after everything? Nothing! We only got expired rent, a disrupted academic calendar, and some items stolen from our various lodges.
After the 2020 strike, we never knew that another bigger one would await us soon. However, on February 14, 2022, another strike loomed again with the same demands the government failed to fulfil for nine months. This time around, only God knows our fate; five months strike and still counting, yet no positive response.
The Federal Government does not care about whether the poor masses get a quality education. They deny us our right to education by not providing enough equipment that students are supposed to use, not enough classes for lectures, and the teachers do not get well paid.
The ASUU strike has done more harm than good to the students. Some students don’t always get to serve their father’s land due to the age limit placed on NYSC. Once a student is 30 years they can no longer go for the one-year compulsory service. So many disadvantages come with embarking on this strike.
Because of these endless strikes by ASUU and the negligence of the Federal Government, we now have more cybercrime everywhere (Yahoo-Yahoo!), and some girls are now into prostitution as a means of survival.
We want to be compensated too after everything by increasing the age limit one can do the one-year compulsory service if we can’t get other compensation. At least this should be done.
Fatima Usman is a 300-level student of mass communication at IBB University, Lapai. She can be reached via usmanfatima499@gmail.com.
