Businesses Suffer As ASUU Strike Cripples Economic Activities In FUT Minna

The ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities is crippling medium and small Scale
and businesses that operate within the Federal University of Technology, Minna, THE WHISTLER reports.

The strike which was recently extended by two months is causing untoward economic hardship on entrepreneurs, some of whom are yet to recover from the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When THE WHISTLER visited the main campus of FUT Minna on Tuesday, it was observed that a large number of business premises who depend on the presence of students to thrive were shut and the few shops that were opened complained of low patronage while appealing to the Federal Government to expeditiously resolve pending issues with ASUU.

Sam Ndubuisi, who operates a cyber cafe in front of the University’s main gate, lamented that the absence of students has impacted gravely on his finances.

“This business is what I use to feed my family, it is where I get my daily bread, since the strike started I have been living from hand to mouth. Now they have added two more months, how do they expect us to survive?” he queried.

A food vendor who did not wish to be named decried the drastic drop in her sales, lamenting that some of the perishable food items she bought before the strike had already spoilt.

According to her, “the few students who stayed back after the strike was initially announced have been forced to go home after it was further extended.”

She urged the Federal Government to come to an agreement with ASUU so that academic activities and its attendant business boom can resume on campus.

For a barber, who simply identified himself as Mr Ode, the incessant strike actions by ASUU make conducting business around university campuses unreliable.

“Since they started the strike, business has been very bad and it is going to get worse with these extra two months. Even after two months we are not sure they will call off, so it’s uncertain, we are just living by the grace of God and hoping it ends soon,” he said.

Recall that ASUU had on the 14th of February embarked on a four-week warning strike over issues bordering on the renegotiation of the ASUU/FG 2009 agreement and the sustainability of the university autonomy by deploying UTAS to replace the government’s “imposed” IPPIS salary payment platform.

It extended the strike by another eight weeks after an emergency meeting on the 13th of March to afford the government more time to address all of its demands.

Emmanuel Osodeke, the union’s president said ASUU was disappointed that the government did not treat the matters involved with utmost urgency they deserved during the four-week period as expected of a reasonable, responsive, and well-meaning administration.