My life and ASUU

Strike action is one of the worst nightmares of a Nigerian university student. As students we have no say on our academic lies or on how long of academic activities last. This is because of the incessant Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike that has plagued the country. It is no new occurrence that students who get admission into federal universities to study for a period of four or five years end up spending extra years in school not necessarily because they had outstanding cases in school but because of the incessant strike action plaguing Nigerian federal universities.

I got admission to study in one of the prestigious federal universities in Nigeria in the year 2020. It was supposed to be a 5-year university course but I'm not sure how long it is going to be any more. I know it was not a pleasant experience but I spent two years in first year. This was caused by strike action. the most appalling thing was that the strike action had to take place when we were about to write our first semester examination. After we came back from the strike, the percentage of the student in me had already depleted. Trust me when I say that the struggle to study and write exams under two weeks was one of the hardest or the worst pressure you could put on a student.

When we first went home on strike, I thought it would be a team of two to three weeks but we had to stay for over a year at home before the strike was called off in school activities resumed. like I said the students percentage in you was depleted. My results was on God.

I would call it a thing of luck that I was able to push through my second semester without another strike action from the academic staff Union.

2 years as a fresher was not fun at all. they putting all the blame on ASUU would be doing injustice to them as the 2020 locked down was also a contributory factor.

I was enjoying my second year as a student in peace before this present strike hit us. First it came as a one month warning strike. It's later graduated 2 months warning strike and now they are on indefinite strike action.

As a law student I had to use this strike as an opportunity to practice under a legal practitioner. I used to the period of the last strike to learn a trade. Now that the student in me has not officially depleted, I am more of a hustler and an intern in a law firm. My special prayer to God every morning is that the students in me does not totally deplete because if that happens I would not know how to cope in school when the strike is eventually called off. As a Nigerian student the fear of strike is the beginning of all wisdom.