It is no longer news that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called off its eight-month industrial action, directing students to return to campus to resume academic work.
By implication, many of the shops and businesses that closed down in the face of the prolonged strike are now beaming with commercial activities.
Kazeem Alarape, an entrepreneur on campus in a chat with BusinessDay said that commercial activities are gradually building up on campus as students have started trooping in. However, he revealed that the level of turn-up so far in UNILAG is far below what would is expected.
“It seems the students are not ready to resume as they are just trickling in. we are delighted to have them back and to restart our commercial activities on campus,” he said.
On how the business owners were able to navigate their ways during the strike, Alarape said it was not easy for him, and for many of his colleagues.
Read also: The ambiguity of ASUU’s conditional suspended strike
“I have to quickly turn crypto business which paid off well for me, but the normal business, everything was grounded,” he explained.
Similarly, Yusuf Sule, a shop owner on campus told BusinessDay that he had to register in a fashion designing shop in order to acquire new skills to meet the need of the time.
He, however, expressed his delight that his business is now picking up though according to him many students are yet to resume.
“The turn-up is fair, we are still expecting more students. The turn-up is low, some are just resuming today, and are moving into their hostels and apartments,” he said.
However, many of the students have been warned to be on alert against buying and consuming expired goods.
A student leader at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who spoke with BusinessDay warned returning students of the danger of buying and consuming expired goods.
“Students should know that some of the goods in those shops have been there for a long time and might have expired,” he said.
Business owners on campus he said will stop at nothing to get rid of their old stocks as fast as they can possibly. He urged students for their health sake to be concerned about what they buy and consume by ensuring they verify the expiry date of the products they want to buy before payment.
