By Muhammad Bashir Shuaib and Olayiwola Kerimat Omobolanle, Confidence News

For Abdulmumin, a 500-level student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, the strike from the non-academic staff of the Nigerian university has caused him a lot. In his reaction to the correspondents, he expressed his dissatisfaction and emphasised the zero supply of electricity, water, and other facilities. He said, “As a student, I have been affected by the recent NASU and SSANU strikes; the impact has been profound and far-reaching. Academically, the strike has disrupted our learning process, causing delays in lectures, assignments, and examinations. This disruption not only affects our academic progress but also creates a sense of uncertainty and frustration among students.”
 
“The strike has also affected our basic needs on campus. Facilities such as electricity, water, and sanitation services have been compromised, making it challenging to maintain a conducive learning environment. Without access to essential amenities, our daily lives as students become more difficult, adding to the stress and anxiety caused by the strike.”
 
“The NASU and SSANU strikes have significantly impacted our stay in school, affecting us academically, socially, and emotionally. We hope for a swift resolution to the issues at hand so that we can return to our studies and focus on building our futures without further interruptions.” He concluded.
 
Like Abdulmumeen, Muhammad, a student of civil engineering from the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi shared his experience during the one-week warning strike, in an interview with this reporter, he said that the 1-week strike made him and other students on the campus to be irregular in their normal routine due to lack of access to light, water, and classrooms for examinations, in his word: he said,” It is really tough though, and for students during exams period, having no access to the library no access to light for us to read through our note in the night is somehow very frustrating, lecturers and students have to trek from the school gate down to there respective locations, in the availability of water for the students inside the campus to make use of, stress up and down because of in availability of exams venue.”
 
Meanwhile, Unlike other students who were mainly affected by basic amenities in the school, for Usman Kabiru, a final-year student at Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, the one-week warning strike cost him an application for a life-changing opportunity. In an expression of deep disappointment, he said, “The strike has affected me in many ways I could think of academically. It has affected me the most; I have missed out on deadlines for some opportunities I wanted to apply for during the week. The electricity issue didn’t make it possible for me to get printed and signed copies of the documents I needed as requirements from my department. My head of department and the department examination officer were unable to work on my required documents for my application support due to the power outage on campus as a result of the non-academic staff shutting down the solar panel.” 
 
Similarly, at the University of Ilorin, Rasheedat Bolanle of the education biology department expressed bitterly that the strike had greatly affected the students in many ways. In her words, she stated an instance where, “during exam period, the library was supposed to open 24/7 but now opens for 10 hours (8 a.m.–6 p.m.), and most of the exam venues were changed impromptu due to the strike because those with the keys are on strike.”
“Changes in the timetable also affect students ability to swiftly locate the new examination venue,” she added.
 
Also, at the University of Ilorin, Atotileto Moradeke, of the Department of Science Education, stated that the strike affected her academically, being someone comfortable with reading at night. She said, “Because I’m a night reader, but this strike changed everything drastically. The library now opens for 10 hours instead of 24 hours, and I couldn’t read overnight again.
 
Recall that the strike commenced when the JAC of SSANU and NASU called the attention of the federal government to its exclusion from the payment of the withheld salaries, which it commenced for the Academic Staff Union of Universities in February.
 
The salaries of the unions were withheld during the administration of the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, who invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against ASUU, SSANU, and NAATS during their strike that lasted eight months, four months, and five-and-a-half months, respectively, in 2022.
 
On Sunday, the leadership of the JAC of SSANU and NASU, however, directed all her members to resume back on Monday, March 25, 2024.

Muhammad Bashir Shuaib works as a reporter with Confidence News and Olayiwola Kerimat Omobolanle works as a campus reporter with Confidence News