Usman Abubakar-Rimi, a Medicine and Surgery final-year student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS), has narrated how he turned to a street food vendor due to prolonged industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022, keeping thousands of students at home.
Abubakar-Rimi said he conceived the initiative to engage in productive living as the strike forced students to become redundant.
The student, who owns a food outlet in the Diplomat area of the Sokoto metropolis, explained that the ongoing strike allowed him to expand his business.
“I hired a shop, employing eight people manning tea and indomie joints, selling bottled and canned drinks, masa, rice and beans, pepper soup and meat along with the Point of Sale (POS) business.
“A plate of food sells from N200 and above depending on the needs of the customer,” Abubakar-Rimi said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday.
He explained that he owned another shop on Fodio road in the Sokoto metropolis, where he sells men’s and women’s clothing, caps, student bags, and shoes.
“I am always happy to see that I become an employer of labour. At present, I engaged 10 people in the two shops.
“I relied on the shops for handsome incomes because I don’t ask my parents for any money although schools were closed,” he added.
Abubakar-Rimi said he did not have any loans or youth empowerment schemes to embark on the businesses.
“However, I utilized the opportunity of COVID-19 lockdown, during the pandemic and started an egg and chicken distribution business where I had made contacts with restaurants for the supply.
“I also obtained the eggs and chickens from large-scale farms, from small amounts to higher quantity suppliers, from the proceeds I started the two businesses,” he added.
The student entrepreneur said the businesses had many prospects and encouraged youths to think of ways to use their time and venture into viable initiatives.
“With the lucrative opportunities provided by the businesses, I envisage continuing with the ventures even after my graduation.
“When I become a medical doctor, I envisage engaging in work that will not be too time-consuming because, at present, I have begun to lose hope in a salary-earning job.
“I want to establish a pharmacy, work in a private hospital as well as engage in private-initiated businesses relevant to my profession,” he explained.
He advised students to utilise their free time to engage in businesses, stressing that the present online services provided many opportunities to leverage.
The student called on President Muhammadu Buhari to find a lasting solution to the strike in the interest of youths and the country’s progress.
He further appealed to the lecturers and the federal government to consider the students’ plight and resolve the issue as the strike’s effects bite harder.
