A lecturer at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Christiana Pam, has disclosed that she resorted to selling potatoes amid the ongoing strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, the lecturer revealed that against the usual perception of people about lecturing, things are different on the inside.
“It’s the job I have always wanted to do. Like every other job, it’s when you enter into the sector that you realise some things you were not aware of before.
“Sometimes, it is not how we view things from the outside, that it really is inside. When I got the job, I noticed some of the things that I didn’t know when I was not lecturing but, generally, it has been a very great experience for me,” she said.
Pam explained that she had initially thought that the strike would only last a few weeks but when she realised that the strike is taking too long, she had to find a means to sustain herself as she couldn’t depend on her parents for money.
“I was very hopeful and relaxed, waiting for it to be called off but after ASUU’s negotiations with the Federal Government, which didn’t end well as the demands of ASUU were obviously not met, the strike was extended.
“That was when it dawned on me that I needed to take a step because, within the first phase of the strike, I was already drained financially as I am new to the system and had yet to have the opportunity to save more money before the strike,” she said.
“I kept telling them shamelessly that I was on a farm with my parents, so when I started selling potatoes as a lecturer, I didn’t really feel anything. I just felt it was a condition I had found myself in,” she said.
The PUNCH metro reports that members of ASUU, including federal and state universities, had embarked on strike on February 14, 2022.
