By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
Students of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi State have lamented that the strike embarked upon by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), is causing them untold hardship.
The students, who spoke in separate interviews with our correspondent, said that just two days into the 7-day strike declared by the unions, the situation is becoming unbearable for them because they don’t have electricity to cook and read their books; they also lamented the lack of water on campus for them to drink, cook, wash their clothes and have their bath owing to the industrial action.
Zainab Aliyu, a 200-level, Environmental Management Technology student, said they find it difficult to concentrate on preparing for their exams because of the problems they face.
“This strike has affected us greatly because we find it hard to fetch water, there’s no light and we’re currently writing exams. Instead of us to concentrate on what we’re supposed to read, we can’t because of these problems.
“When we get back to our hostels from our classes, there’s no water for you to shower or cook and we’re currently fasting, it’s a double stress. You’re having exams, you’re fasting, you don’t have water, there’s no light and there’s heat.
“We have to go to a far distance to fetch water. The well we usually fetch water that’s close to us at the back is now contaminated because everybody goes there to get water. The situation is really hard for us,” she said.
A 500-level Computer Science student, Hadiza Isa, said that they don’t feel good about the strike because they are facing a lot of challenges.
She said: “We lack water, there’s no light in the school and we’re writing exams. Like today, I had to spend N400 to charge my phones outside the school owing to the fact that there’s no light on campus.
“The Federal Government has to urgently do something about this situation, it’s becoming unbearable for us. We have to read some of our notes from our phones because of the economic situation of the country we cannot afford to get handouts.”
Shuaib Saleh, a 500-level Quantity Survey student, said he’s not finding it easy because of the Ramadan fasting noting that getting water hasn’t been easy for him and because of the lack of electricity, cooking food to eat has been difficult for him for the past two days.
“Yesterday, before we cooked and ate our iftar (break fast), it was around 9.30 in the night because of the lack of water. We had to use sachet water to cook,” he lamented.
Saleh added that the exam halls are not convenient for them because of the lack of electricity, so many students are packed in one place despite the heat currently being experienced in Bauchi State.
Another student, Jemima Jonathan, a 300 level Industrial Design student also lamented that: “This strike has affected me greatly because, tomorrow, I’m having exams and my handout is in my phone and there’s no light for me to charge the phone. Also, there’s no water, even the matrons in our hostels are not around, the school is just dry. Some had their exams postponed because of the strike.
“We cannot go to the library to read also because it is locked as a result of this strike. You can see how difficult it is for us to cope with the situation.”
She added that the situation is more terrible for them because, “as ladies, this situation is not easy for us because of the weather and there are some that are on their monthly flow. It’s not easy for them to look for water and other things. So, we are no finding it easy at all.”
The students appealed to SSANU, NASU and the Federal Government to resolve their differences without “dehumanizing students” because, “as you can see, we’re in a fasting period now and we’re writing exams and there’s no light, there’s no water. The situation is very unbearable for us and this is just the second day out of the seven days declared and we are going through this serious hardship. They should come to our rescue, please,” they appealed.
Meanwhile, vehicular movements and activities at the Yelwa Campus of ATBU were paralyzed following the strike by the two unions under the Joint Action Committee.
Our correspondent, who visited the campus observed that the two gates leading to the University were under lock and key with leaves placed on the them by the protesters to prevent entry or exit.
Cars and motorcycles were seen parked outside the gate as they were not allowed to go into the school or out from the school by members of the two unions who were at there to enforce compliance.
Some who came on cars and motorcycles had to turn back because of the situation at the University gate. However, the small gate was open to staff and students to go in or out on foot, as many of them were seen trekking into and out of the school.
Some management staff led by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic who’s also the acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sarki Fagam, while speaking to members of the unions said: “We want to beg you to, please open just one gate and leave the other one closed, so that human and vehicular traffic can flow and do not allow any of your members to enter so that you can have a total strike,” Fagam appealed.
In an interview with journalists, the JAC Chairman, Sulisma Jatau, said that the Federal Government remained adamant to the 14 days ultimatum it gave them to meet their demands or they’ll embark on the strike action.
Jatau who is also the SSANU Chairman, ATBU Branch, said that in 2009, they entered into an agreement with the Federal Government which was freely signed but up to this moment, about 15 years later, the agreements are yet to be honoured pointing out that “It was freely entered, nobody coarse the government to enter into it; although some of them were honoured, but many of them have not been respected up to this moment.”
He said that some of such agreements are payment of their earned allowances, constitution of visitation panels, university governing councils and salary increase.
“So, we pressed home our demands two years ago and they ended up enforcing a no-work-no-pay on us which ended up in us staying for six months without salaries. After signing a document with the Federal Government by the then Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, but up to now, this agreement has not yet been implemented.
“When this President (Bola Tinubu) came, he gave an order, a waiver that we should be paid four months our of those six that we were denied salaries. Unfortunately, when the Federal Government decided to pay, they paid to only one union, that is ASUU; the other three university based unions were denied.
“We engaged the Minister of Education on the matter and he promised that within one week, we will get our own payments but to our surprise, this is now four weeks, nothing has happened. So, we are saying that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. We went on the same strike and they selected one union and paid them which we feel is a divide and rule tactics by the Federal Government.
“We are saying no that nobody is a slave here. In JAC, we are not slaves, we are very, very important in the university system, infact, we are the entry point in the university system, without us nothing can happen. Now that we withdrew our services, you can see that nothing is happening – no computer, no electricity, no water, no medical center, no network for browsing, nothing is working. We are a very important organ of the university and that is what we want to tell the whole world,” he stated.
Asked if the unions will obliged the request of the management to open one of the gates, he said: “The management came to beg and appeal to us that we should give them some consensus which we believe is against the tenets of our union. When times come that we want to go on strike, they will tell us that we are on essential services but when it comes to enjoying somethings, they’ll tell us that we are not essential. So, this time around, we are saying that there is not going to be any compromise, no consensus, the strike is total and indefinite.
“We have withdrawn our services at this gate and we’re not going to open it because if we allow the gate to be open, then it means we are not on strike, it is our own point of duty, so this gate will remain closed. We didn’t even prevent human movement, as you can see that people are going in and out on foot, we didn’t intimidate or molest anyone, but the gate will remain closed.”
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