By Sunday Ogundiran
Stationery shops in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area LGA) are seriously anticipating the resumption of both public and private schools currently under lock and key for months due to the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus to survive the hard times.
The business owners who deal mainly in the sales of books for students have been opening their shops in the hope of request for recommended texts by parents and students. However, their waiting has been in vain.
Even companies whose offices buy cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper and other office supplies were nowhere to be found due to the lockdown regulations.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria in March 2020, the Federal Government had ordered total lockdown in Lagos being the epicenter of the virus outbreak.
The decision of the government to delay the resumption of schools as part of measures to ease the lockdown dashed the hopes of many sellers of stationery.
Instead, the Federal Government directed that other sectors of the economy to operate with stringent guidelines to cushion the hardship effect on the citizen. However, schools still remain under total lockdown despite the relaxation to prevent the spread of the virus among the students in the school community.
Mr. Gbadejoko Otubu who has been into the stationery business for two decades and runs a shop in Okota told ECHONEWS that since schools have been shut down two months ago, the business has crashed.
He lamented that there was no demand for even office stationery such as letter paper, note pads, pens, computer printers and other equipment.
Mrs. Christiana Apalara, a school teacher who runs a book shop at Ile-Iwe bus stop, Ejigbo, has double challenges as she lamented that she had double challenges with the lockdown as none of her two sources of income is functioning presently, complaining that this has worsened her efforts to keep up with her obligations.
She explained that the lockdown of schools is a challenge for her as a teacher while the book shop business which is supposed to be an alternative has consequently been faced with impasse, losing its potential customers amidst coronavirus pandemic crisis.
Apalara therefore appealed to the government to strategise a way of relaxing the lockdown on schools, claiming that the online teaching method adopted could not solve the challenges faced by the teachers, the students and the stationery businesses.
Another stationery merchant in Oshodi, Mr. Chika Emmanuel said there is no surviving strategy for those who depend total on the business as this time, saying the has taught him how to diversify business.
He said they were anticipating the re-opening of the schools soon for their business to thrive again, expressing assurance that the business would bounce back immediately the schools are opened as they sell essential products needed by everyone.
He added that stationery business is one of the lucrative businesses that would pick up quickly immediately after the coronavirus pandemic.
