Commercial activities at the University of Abuja, have been paralysed due to the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Esther Innocent, who sells soft drinks and snacks on the campus, told NAN on Thursday that the strike was affecting her business greatly .
‘‘I usually buy ice blocks to cool my drinks and pure water, but the ones I bought two days ago and today (Thursday) are wasted because there are no customers to consume the drinks.
‘‘Christmas is fast approaching and I need to make some money for my family because this is what my family and I do for a living.
‘‘The government should reach agreement with ASUU and call off the strike or many families will suffer during the festivities,’’ she said.
Mike Okon, who operates a photocopying centre around the institution, said the strike was impacting negatively on his business.
‘‘Sometimes I make little as N500 in a day since the strike began,’’ he said.
Okon appealed to ASUU and the Federal Government to consider the interests of the masses and parents, and put an end to the industrial action.
Similarly, David Abba also called on the government to pay serious attention to the education sector and find lasting solution to incessant strikes by the lecturers.
Ahmed Usman, a motor cycle operator said that the lingering strike was affecting his business as he complained that there were few passengers since the commencement of the industrial dispute.
‘‘You can see for yourself that the whole place is dry and empty; there are no passengers.
‘‘We don’t make much money these days; there are no students around to patronise us,’’ he said.
NAN reports that on Nov. 5, the union announced an indefinite nationwide strike by workers of both the federal and state-owned universities, to protest alleged poor funding of the education sector among other contentious issues.
The union had directed members to embark on strike following alleged failure of the Federal Government to implement Memorandum of Action (MOA) 2007 signed with ASUU.