As you all know, the ongoing ASUU strike began as a Valentine’s day gift. And a long gift, given that it has stretched on for 2 months and two weeks. And from the way ASUU and FG is handling the issue, it looks is going to be an awfully long strike. 

How do I know? 

Cos check out the length of the previous ASUU strikes. It’s just sad.

List of ASUU strikes

In all, that’s about 51 months spent on ASUU strikes between 1999 to 2022. I’m saying that more than 4 years out of the last 23 years have been squandered by strikes.

And guess who’s the victim of all this?

You, the average Nigerian university student. You are the victim.

Your 4-year course becomes a six-year curse.

Now, the current strike began in February 2022. We still had the 2022 NUGA Games to look forward to. The Games came and went. Then we had Easter to look forward to. Now Easter has come and gone. 

Same as the Eid celebrations.

Now that Easter and Eid is over, and there’s nothing else to look forward to, how do you plan on spending this long strike?

Cos like I said before, the ASUU strike would be anytime soon. It’s been nearly three months.

now, this.

You see one big mistake to make during unplanned “holidays” like this is not recognizing the opportunity given to you. You’re a young student with no classes, no timetables, no assignments, or deadlines to meet – all of a sudden you have excess free time on your hands.

And you know what an even bigger mistake is? 

Waiting for the strike to end.

Trust me I did it back in 2018. 

The strike kicked off in November 2018, and I kept waiting for it to be called off. November became December, December became January.

And I kept waiting. When the strike was finally called off in February 2019, I realized one thing – I had spent 13 weeks i.e. 3 months (4 months if you add the holiday from October) doing nothing.

Just waiting.

It was until 2020 that I had such a long break from campus again – from March 2020 to April 2021 – due to Covid, strike, and a host of other factors.

A break like this while annoying is a blessing in disguise. And how you spend it means a lot. You don’t want to waste it just scrolling idly on social media. You don’t want to waste it just washing plates and feeding the dog at home. You really don’t want to waste it.

The world is evolving, and a University degree doesn’t really mean that much, yes, even outside the country. Every company is interested in one thing – making profit – and they’ll pick someone who’ll do a good job (which would bring them more profit) over someone who just has a “certificate”.

Not that your certificate isn’t important, it is. If it wasn’t, no one would spend hundreds of thousands of naira and four to six years trying to get it. Your degree is and will be very useful to you.

But your degree is not everything.

A university degree alone is not sufficient enough to make you a success in life. 

And how does that relate to the strike?

The strike as I mentioned earlier has given you a lot of free time. Time to do anything you want to do before the strike is called off. Don’t make the mistake of “waiting” for the strike to be over before you take action. Even if the strike is called off tomorrow, you’ve still spent 3 months sitting at home doing nothing.

Now, what should you do exactly?

That’s totally up to you. A vast majority of students use the ongoing strike to continue their “side-hustles” and businesses. Some use it to learn skills, some use it to work in temporary jobs, some use it to holiday. However, it is spent, the main thing is clear.

Don’t be idle. Don’t do NOTHING.

It’s not compulsory you must start a business or get a job. At the same time, you must not be idle. The strike is an excellent opportunity to develop yourself and your skillset. Unless you’re a divine being that is flawless by nature, you are not perfect and there are a lot of things you need to learn. 

Now’s a good opportunity to.

Most of the ways students spend the strike duration fall into these categories;

• Taking online courses – learning digital skills like coding, web development, graphics design, digital marketing, e.t.c 
• Learning soft skills – skills like copywriting, marketing, public speaking, team management, e.t.c 
• Learning/practicing “handwork” – catering, tailoring, hairdressing, makeup, photography, woodwork, e.t.c
• Focusing on/growing their brands/business – selling products (shoes, makeup, wears, e.t.c.), selling services (painting, interior design, digital skills, e.t.c.), taking business courses, networking, e.t.c.
• Taking temporary jobs like teaching, salespersons, security, modeling, ushering gigs, e.t.c.

Not everything has to be money-focused though. While aiming for your financial independence is an excellent goal, you can focus on personal activity or things that benefit you directly. 

For example, you can focus on things like;

• Fitness – working out, dieting to build your dream figure/physique, meditation to clear your mind, e.t.c. 
• Hobbies and passions – things that you love doing, but can’t do while school is in full session, and may not have enough time for during the holidays. It can be writing, reading, movies, (I spent most of the 2018/19 strike making WWII maps) cooking experiments, singing, dancing, anything at all. That thing you love to do but you’re shy about – now’s the time to try it.
• Intellect building – reading/studying additional material related to your course. You can even read/study fields that can benefit you in life like personal finance, human psychology, books on wealth, health, e.t.c.

You can even spend your time on activities that would benefit you years from now. You can enroll in an online university to get an additional degree, you can take professional courses and exams, you can attend seminars and workshops. You can even prepare for a scholarship – not everyone who goes home for the strike returns – you can get a scholarship abroad.

While doing all these, you can always take out time to read/study your school-related books. But don’t let “reading books” be the only thing you achieve during the strike. You have the opportunity to do a lot more.

In a twisted society and system like ours, a prolonged strike isn’t abnormal anymore. The chances are as long as you are schooling in a public university, you’ll witness even more strikes. I myself have witnessed 4 strikes! Strikes can make you spend 3 calendar years in one level.

The goal is to come back better than you left. Don’t go home (or leave campus) and return the same way you left. Come back better. You’re not just a student, you’re a person too, and while the grind of school life may make it hard for you to focus your attention on anything else, the strike has become a blessing to you.

So, now that Easter and Eid is over and you have nothing else to look forward to, find that something worth doing and focus on it.

Remember the goal is to return to campus better than when you left. Be productive. 

The ball is in your court.

Thanks for reading. Tell me in the comments how you plan on spending the rest of the strike.

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