well, i'm going to start by saying that I hate school. The idea of confining learning to a center that is not always in the best shape, location or with necessary equipment in our age of information should be scrapped in my opinion, even though it might reduce the zeal to acquire necessary skill sets for certain career paths like engineering and medicine, but i am absolutely positive that even those skill sets can be learned with an alternative idea.

Also, the world is evolving, and the richest set of people are not nine to five workers unlike in the time of our parents who have pretty much been raised to believe that graduating from a university or college is the only way for their wards to not be wayward (see what i did there?). Having said that, the federal government of Nigeria seems to be on my side.

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This strike is not ending till 2023

Today marked the 51st day of the ASUU strike and to be honest i have loved every single day. The strike commenced originally because of unsatisfactory salary settlements between lecturers and the federal government of nigeria, and the bulked up debt to be paid by the federal government is summed up to about 1 trillion naira, and that is what is demanded from the government for schools to be put back into session.

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So why do i think the strike is not going to end this year you may ask, well. this is the last year of power for the current government, and according to the tradition of how the presidency works, not much changes at the last year, there are almost no new changes at the last tenure, except the candidate in question is thinking of vying for another tenure stretch. Instead, what we say over the years of rule is little projects commissioned with a very inappropriate budget. Now the government has replied to the strike action by the means of chris ngige, the minister of labor, who has come out to shamelessly proclaim the government's inability to meet the funding demand of asuu.

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ASUU has also allegedly refused to collect any amount of money that is not up to the demanded amount and is very serious and sturdy about their resolve, and i would understand why, because in past years, they have always settled for less than what they have been owed. This strike has the worst timing too in my opinion, because before the new administration settles down after the 2023 elections we might be close to the third quarter of 2023, so i am estimating another lost year for all students currently schooling in asuu related schools.

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Effects of the strike on my friends and I

Well, i am a student (though apathetic about it) and the only students i can really use to classify the effects of the strike with are the ones i can see which are my friends in school here. So what are the effects?

• We are not going to school OBVIOUSLY:

It may sound really straight forward, but for students to be starved of education without a warning is not healthy for some very diligent students who still think and believe that having a bsc is the way, the truth and the life, so we could say that this strike has rendered a lot of students idle!, maybe that is the main point, but another thing this has caused is migration, in the sense that almost all my friends are back home too.

• Some of us are gaining new skill sets

Well with the free time in our hands, some of my friends and I have put our minds into acquiring mew skills that might just save us in the future, like tech skills that include graphics deigning, video editing and some other part of the tech space, while some of my other friends are getting sharper with their forex and crypto trading skills. This free time also feels like a break to us from the rush and bustle and stress of schooling.

• Some of us are getting better at house chores

As i mentioned before, most of my friends have now gone back home, and to be frank, we all know what is usually waiting for us at home, "the chores", from washing plates to washing cars to going to the market to cooking, look it is not like we do not do these things in school, but in school it is just different, especially if you are the first or last born in the house and the house is a full one in the anticipation of the Easter celebrations coming up soon. Some of my friends i have talked to are getting used to the chores and the slavery, and i have never been so glad to be in school.

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What can the government do about it?

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To me, this question is not valid, some days ago, the presidency approved of the funding of a project worth 35 billion naira for an aviation project. Please help me and ask them, where are we flying to? when the whole education system of the nation is in shambles. I normally hate politics, but since this has inevitably affected me directly, i had to do some research.

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I have found out that of recent, the federal government has commissioned so many undercover projects worth billions of naira and have overlooked the pleas of asuu. So to answer this question, The federal government should show more interest in this topic, as their silence is deafening, i am guessing that if 500 billion naira is brought to the table, we might resume school the next day.

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CONCLUSION

So these are the top three effects that the strike has on me and the students i can currently see, i would love to see reactions about this and also if you'd like the strike to be called off soon, or if you are like me and would like for it to be extended to 2024. Thanks to @campusconnectng and @whitestallion for the idea of this article, and i would also love it if you could drop your opinion too. see ya!