Following the unending Academic Staff Union of Universities strike, a student, Usman Abubakar-Rimi has started a street corner food business and he is making money.
Abubakar-Rimi, a final year Medicine and Surgery student of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, said he set up the business in order not to be idling around. He added that so far it has been a rewarding enterprise.
“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 explained that he owned another shop on Fodio road also in the Sokoto metropolis where he sells men and women’s clothing, caps, 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.
Abubakar-Rimi said he did not access any loan or youths empowerment scheme to embark on the businesses.
“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.
He further explained that when the school resumed, the businesses would be sustained and combined with his academic activities.
“I designed a sustainability plan where registers were opened for maximum record keeping, supply chain and other management procedures,” Abubakar-Rimi said.
He advised students to utilise their free time to engage in businesses, stressing that the present online services provided a lot of opportunities to leverage on.
The student called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to find a lasting solution to strikes in the interest of youths and the country’s progress.
He further appealed to the lecturers to consider the students’ plights and resolve the issue with some offers by the Federal Government as the effects of strikes bite hardest on all categories of Nigerians. NAN
