Unquestionably, the recently suspended, eight-month-old ASUU Strike has had a significant impact on numerous students’ aims and goals. While some students complain that the strike was a complete waste of their time, for others it was a blessing in disguise that allowed them to experience new things in life.
In this report, Paul Idowu, a reporter, interviewed three Ladokites about their experience during the 8-months ASUU industrial strike action.
Badmus Taofikat Adeoti, a 300L student of Nutrition and Dietetics said she was so happy because she had reckoned that she really needed some rest at the time when they declared the warning strike (two weeks) but she never imagined it would be so long like that . However, she said the 8-months-old was a great blessing for her because she had more than enough time to improve her skill.
She said “At first it was so boring because I thought it wouldn’t be so long and I just stayed at home all day doing nothing really time consuming.”
“After I saw how the strike was going I decided to start taking some clients’ clothes and made them just to make sure I wasn’t wasting my time at home. I had learnt fashion designing during the pandemic, So, doing these made me to realize I needed to improve my skill and that was how I traveled down to Lagos for training.
“The strike affected my growth academically because I should have been in the spirit of preparing to finish 300L by now,” Adeoti added.
Adeoti said the strike didn’t have any bad effect on her goals and her life generally. Nonetheless, she further, advised her fellow students who weren’t able to do anything during the ASUU strike,”In case of next time which I pray we don’t see again is that they should learn from these and make use of their time greatly”
Similarly, Afolayan Oluwaferanmi, 200L nursing student, said at first she was happy, because she reckoned that it the strike period would be a time to get relieved of all the stress. She further expatiated that the first two month of the year that she was in school was very hectic and much engaging for her. In her words,
“But, from the transitioning from two weeks to one month. I was like will this not end?, Nevertheless, after all, the blessing in disguise for me, because I got the opportunity to do more things, apart from academics.”
However, from a distinct viewpoint, Adegboyega Michael, also a 200L Nursing student said the strike was a total waste of time. Adegboyega recalled that “When the strike started I was happy but got sad in the middle.”
In his words, “It’s a complete waste because how can we be at home for something that can be sorted within a week? Children of the powerless were at home doing nothing. Some got pregnant, some are dead, some have up on school without achieving anything, we’re back into what we should have completed”
However, speaking with him on how the strike affected his plans. He said “The strike didn’t affect my goal, I worked harder and achieved many things. It’s a strike to be prayed for”
Also, speaking on with Michael on what he lose in the strike,”It really helped my growth because I discovered I have many potentials which I couldn’t have noticed if I’m in school”
“There’s no loss.” He added.
