ASUU strike: final-year medical student becomes a food vendor

Usman Abubakar-Rimi, a final-year medical and surgical student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto, has started working as a street seller as a result of the ongoing faculty strike.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Sokoto, Abubakar-Rimi claimed that the strike had made students redundant, therefore he came up with the idea to engage in constructive living.
Owner of a restaurant and Indomie business in Sokoto’s Diplomat neighborhood, Abubakar-Rimi, claimed that the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ continuing extended strike provided him with the perfect chance.

He added that he recently began selling food on a large scale and characterized the endeavor as profitable.
“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 business.
“A plate of food sells from N200 and above depending on the needs of the customer,” Abubakar-Rimi said.
He clarified that he also had a store on Fodio Road in the city of Sokoto, where he offered men’s and women’s apparel as well as hats, student bags, and shoes.
“I am always happy to see that I become an employer of labour – as at present I engage 10 persons in the two shops.
“I rely on the shops for handsome incomes, because I don’t ask my parents for any money in spite of the fact that schools are closed,” he added.
According to Abubakar-Rimi, he did not use a loan or a youth empowerment program to start his enterprises.
“However, I utilised 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,” Abubakar-Rimi added.
The firms, according to Abubakar-Rimi, had a lot of potential, and she urged young people to consider how best to use their time and launch successful projects.
He continued by saying that the enterprises would continue and be integrated with his academic pursuits once classes resumed.
“I designed a sustainability plan where registers were opened for maximum record keeping, supply chain and other management procedures,” Abubakar-Rimi said.
He claimed that the benefits of online platforms meant that enterprises were adequately operated and managed utilizing cell phones, which facilitated communications.
“With the lucrative opportunities provided by the businesses, I envisage to continue with the ventures even after my graduation.
“When I become a Medical Doctor, I envisage to engage in work that will not be too time consuming because at present, I have begun to lose hope on 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,” Abubakar-Rimi explained.
He urged students to use their free time to start businesses, pointing out that the current web services offered a wealth of chances.
In the sake of youths and the development of the nation, the student urged President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.) to find a long-lasting solution to strikes.
The impacts of strikes hit all swaths of Nigerian society hardest, thus he further pleaded with the academics to take into account the students’ plights and resolve the matter with some offers from the Federal Government.

GOGAN Media.