…Landlords, Discos sustain rent collection from business owners

Abimbola Abatta and Ridwan Adekunle

Mr Oluwafemi Kehinde Joshua ventured into computer and cyber cafe business about 13 years ago, but the lingering industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has made him question his career choice.

In a voice laden with regret and frustration while speaking with Nigerian NewsDirect in an interview, Joshua said, “I have been asking myself if I learnt a wrong trade. Where will I start from with my family and children? Will I go and learn another trade that is not even related to cyber cafe, so that in the nearest future when something of this nature happens, I’ll be able to venture into that one? Even if it’s painting or bricklaying? I don’t even understand anymore. It has been really heartbreaking.”

Joshua, whose shop is located at Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) campus, Oye-Ekiti, is not alone in this predicament. Many business owners have suffered huge losses and setback since the ASUU strike kicked off six months ago.

On February 14, university lecturers started a four-week warning strike in a bid to press home their message which bordered on the Federal Government’s failure to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that demanded payment of academic staff allowance, review of the payment system and case of establishment of many universities in the country.

However, what began as a one-month warning strike has turned into six months of national shake as well as agony and dashed hopes for students whose academic progress has been delayed.

The ongoing strike has crippled the revenue and patronage of business owners who rely on functioning campuses to thrive. In addition to forcing many to seek alternative sources of income, the six-month strike has triggered the shutdown of daily operations of computer business centres, hair stylists, food vendors, petty and wholesale traders, barbers, POS operators, and campus transportation services, among others.

Still speaking on the impact of the strike, Mr Joshua said, “For the past 6 months, we have been at home. ASUU went on strike on February 14th. That’s exactly six months that activities have been paralysed. No activity is going on at the school currently. Most of us who own shops here are more than 50 in different lines of businesses, but the strike has a negative impact on most of us that deal with printing, computer work, projects, photocopying, and the likes.

“We don’t have anyone to attend to as both the academic and non-academic staff members are at home. Part-time students would have helped us, but it’s quite unfortunate that it’s in another town. At least, when the full-time students are not around, the part-time students can patronise us. Like EKSU, they have part-time students and those offering evening classes. But here, the part-time students are in another town, and we cannot relocate there because we have to consider the cost of setting up the equipment we have here at FUOYE. If we decide to move, what if they call off the strike?”

According to him, many business owners around the campus still have to pay for the cost of renting shops despite the fact that they are not making any sales due to the strike.

“Mine is better because I have a container, but I pay for the space I occupy at N2000 per month, making a total of N24,000 per year. But some others rented their shops for as high as N85,000 and N100,000. Some of them took loan to stock up their shops. And I doubt if the owners will subsidise the rent for them.

“We are praying every day. In fact, we have included it in our daily routine prayers that God should intervene because if we look at the situation of things, we just need divine intervention. The Federal Government is saying we should beg ASUU, and ASUU is saying we should beg the federal government. Students also beg parents to beg ASUU. That kind of game means they are not even ready to dialogue and come to a round table. It’s really affecting us.

“On radio programmes, we do call with the hope that the government will hear us. But it seems they don’t even listen to the radio because we tell them that we who have businesses around school environment are affected by the strike, how much more the students. Students who would have completed their final projects around March/April. Maybe by now they would have been engaged in their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. But till now, nothing has been done. So we just pray that God will intervene.

Meanwhile, Nigerian NewsDirect learnt that some bike men at Oye-Ekiti whose primary source of income is from patronage from students have returned to farming because of the strike.

For Hussein Ismail Adebayo, who is into cyber cafe and computer business at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, patronage has drastically reduced now compared with the pre-ASUU strike period.

Adebayo said, “The strike is affecting us a lot. For example, let’s say you’re dealing with 50 – 70 students in a day, now the patronage has gone down woefully. At the moment, before you can see two or three persons to patronise you, it will be very hard. Because majorly, when OAU was on session, students come for their course forms, registration, and assignment. But now that they are not in session, who will give them assignment?”

He, however, called on the government and ASUU to come together to make an agreement based on what the union wants so that the university lecturers and students can resume. “The government said it doesn’t have the money, but if they can get part of the money, ASUU might reconsider and resume,” he added.

A female student from the University of Ilorin whose means of survival depends on sales made from selling unisex wears, bags and accessories to students of the institution lamented that the strike has pusher her into a perpetual state of depression and anger.

Her words: “I only have a year left to graduate, and I was hoping to rush through the year so I could look for greener pastures after school. My finances have been lacking, and getting a job now in Nigeria is very difficult. The ones that are willing to hire pay less, nd the ones that pay more aren’t willing to hire. One way or the other, my finances might actually be affected when school resumes due to final year expenses and I can barely make enough to feed at the moment not to talk of saving ahead of when school resumes.

“So my only hope is for school to resume soon so I can go back to my business. Weekly, I make a minimum of N8,000 and maximum of N12,000, depending on how sales move. Roughly in a month, I make over N30,000.”

On the part of an Oye-Ekiti resident, who simply identified himself as Mummy Peace, “ASUU strike is not making us to sell as we used to. The market is not moving at all. Most of our customers are students. The patronage from Oye indigenes are quite low compared with what we get from FUOYE students. It’s really affecting us. We want the government to urgently address ASUU’s needs so that the students can resume. We plead with them in God’s name.”

For another resident who deals in buying and selling of weave-ons, wigs, and hair accessories, Fabusuyi Tosin, the government needs to reflect on the agony Nigerians are experiencing due to the ASUU strike.

Madam Tosin said, “What the government is doing is so cruel. The government needs to sit back and think about the pain they are inflicting on us. The government is cheating us because they are in the position of power. This is so unfair. Look at these students; many of them would have completed their studies in April, but they are stuck at home because of strike. If the children of the politicians are here, they would have done something about the strike. We are suffering. We don’t even have money to buy goods to sell let alone for food. I am really pleading with the government to allow students to resume.”

Also speaking with our reporter, a daily bread seller at University of Lagos (UNILAG), Ali Yetunde Aminat, said if not for the alternative plan she devised, her quest for survival would have been much more difficult as it is.

“I have a shop inside UNILAG, where I run a little business every day as a daily bread seller, but since the ASUU strike started, it has been so tough for me. But if not for the plan B, I don’t know where I would have been or how I would survive. But then, it’s been so tough.

“I got the space at UNILAG last year May because I lost out on my previous shop during the previous ASUU strike as I could not renew my rent. The landlady insisted that I must pay N300,000. And even though I pleaded with her to collect N200,000, she refused. That was before I got this new place, but unfortunately it seems history is about to repeat itself.

“My current shop’s rent has been due since April, and the landlord is insisting that I must renew the rent, which I cannot even afford for now. Since the strike began, I have not been going to shop. The landlord still called me yesterday (Saturday), but I didn’t pick his call. It is as if we are working for the landlords and the school property agents.i have made up my mind to pack out from that place because I’m not renewing that rent. NEPA bill is also there, and whether you use the shop or not doesn’t concern them. You must pay.”

In Aminat’s opinion, the landlords are wicked and heartless. “They don’t care about the people using the shop. Their own is just to collect money and funniest parts. If you hear how much they are collecting this shops from the school property, it’s like times three or four of what they’re collecting from us. What they are paying to school property agent is not even up to N65,000 per annum. But we are paying them between N300,000 to N400,000. And whether we make sales or not, we still have to pay the rent,” she maintained.

A barber at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Aliu Musa, who used to make between N4000 – N5000 in a day hardly makes N800 because of the industrial action.

“Because of this ASUU strike, everything has gone bad,” Musa said.

He went further to say: “When students were around, we could make at least N4000 in day, but now, you might work for two to three days before making as little as N800. And things are very expensive in the market.

“Another issue is that we still have to pay for rent. The landlords did not reduce anything. If you try to plead with them, they will say they are not responsible for ASUU strike, so you have to meet up to their demand or vacate the shop.

“Electricity bills are piling up too. I was told today (Sunday) that I have to pay my electricity debts or the light would be cut off before the end of the day. Can you imagine! Also, we still have to pay security operatives. If you fail to pay, your shop will be burgled and valuables carted away.

“We are just praying to God that ASUU strike will end so that students can come back and everything would return to normal. I have not eaten since morning because I don’t have money. When I went to the market to buy beans, they told me it’s now 1300. Our experience id not funny at all as prices of goods and food stuff keep increasing yet we have little to no money to get them,” he added.