Strike and protest had happened in my country before I was born and while growing till present countless of them has also happened. Anyone who attends government schools from primary level to tertiary level in my country will surely know that strike is not a new thing in our system. Strike and protest has indirectly and directly affected me in various ways. As I have said earlier that I have witnessed countless strike which I have forgotten but there are particular strike that I can hardly forget due to the level it affected me that even its negative impact refuse to fade off. Its wound has healed because the strike is over but the scar it left is still appearing to me whenever I set my eyes on it.
It was the last day of the year 2011, I was at my brother's place of which we had a sleepless night waiting for the first day of the year 2012 for the new year celebration. We had provided every items needed for the celebration and Eve had been put in place. While waiting for the arrival of the invited guest and well wishers, the announcement of removal of fuel subsidy by the current government was aired and heard. The announcement immediately switched our exciting mood and event to sadness and the pump fuel price immediately inflated from 65 naira to 180 naira. The day of the announcement despite being a work-feee day, Nation strike broke out immediately and the following day protest started throughout the nation.
I left my brother house for my house that day to attend to an urgent issue, getting to the park, transportation was not available. My house was extremely far from the park and since I had no choice I trekked for over two hours and on getting home, I battled with ankle pain for the next two days and funny enough I couldn't get drugs like pain relief because no pharmacy opened. Another way this strike affected was that during the course of the strike I lost one of my sisters, she was pregnant and her delivery fell to the period of the protest and strike, all government hospital were on strike except few private hospital we had no choice other than to carry her here but on getting there she needed to be transferred to a government hospital because the private we took her too did not have the required facility needed to attend to her. Since the government hospital were on strike we never knew the next line of action and unfortunately we lost both the mother and the child. The wound of the strike has healed but the scar remains.
Another protest that affected was the Endsars protest. Sars is an acronym of special anti-robbery squad which is carved out from Nigerian police force mainly for managing robbery scenarios but due to their unjust behave and their impunity, Nigerian citizens protested to call the attention of government to remove them from Nigerian force.
It happened during my NYSC days, as a science teacher I entered the class to carryout my duty as a corper but I found no student in school. The usual rowdiness in the school area was replaced with sound of chirping birds. My post of primary assignment was far from home, I immediately left my PPA for my house, I trekked for many hours before I could see a taxi at the price being inflated three times the original price despite reaching the half way of the journey. Many soul were lost, robbery increased as we couldn't sleep peacefully because of armed robbers. Roads which are busy with moving cars were turned to stadium while the idle youth whom my nation has no plans for seize that period to extort the poor who is trying to find his daily needs and even exhort the younger to extort for survival. During that I lost a lot of money as a home teacher. It was a tough experience.
The last experience I would love to share before putting a full stop was the ASUU indefinite strike which I thought it would be for short period and lasted for 8 month.
It affected me in the sense that had I known I would have use the period to learn a skill and it could have created an edge for me in labour because after completing my degree programme till now I could only a job of peanuts salary. Had I known that the period would be that long I could have utilize the period to learn a skill, be a boss on my own and become an employer.
I think It will be better I stop here because I will run out of ink if I try to relay all the negative effect of protest and strike in my life. Government should just be humane because bad governance instills the spirit of protest and strike in citizen and the aftermath of both may be very deadly.