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- Nigeria’s university system is teetering on the brink of collapse, according to former Obafemi Awolowo University Vice-Chancellor, Prof Wande Abimbola
- He condemned the federal government’s neglect and described lecturers’ salaries as “scandalous”, likening them to what a gardener earns in three hours in the United States
- Speaking on Boiling Point Arena, Abimbola called for an urgent bail-out and a Commission of Inquiry to rescue the nation’s academic institutions
Former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Prof Wande Abimbola, has issued a stark warning over the deteriorating state of Nigerian universities, citing poor remuneration for lecturers as a key factor threatening the system’s survival.
Speaking during the Boiling Point Arena, a monthly interview discourse hosted by media professional Dr Ayo Arowojolu, Abimbola criticised the federal government for its perceived neglect of the academic sector.
Source: Twitter
The programme, chaired by the Olowu of Owu, Oba Prof Saka Matemilola, was broadcast live via Zoom and aired on six radio stations and NSTV on Gotv Channel.
Abimbola, now based in the United States, expressed dismay at the salaries earned by Nigerian professors, comparing them unfavourably to wages in the US. He stated:
“Recently, about two years ago, I went back to the university where I was the VC. I visited my department, and I was told that a full professor earns about N500,000 monthly. When we converted the amount, this is almost equivalent to the $300 academics elsewhere in the United States will use to take care of his garden within just three hours.”
University funding crisis and government apathy
The former Senate Majority Leader lamented the decline in university standards since his tenure ended in 1989. He recalled visiting Obafemi Awolowo University years later and being moved to tears by the level of decay.
“The most important thing about university is funding. We need to ask our governments, both at the federal and state levels, why they have been aloof and looking on until things got this bad. The federal and state governments don’t really care.”
Abimbola argued that the current state of affairs reflects a broader governmental failure to prioritise education.
He criticised the proliferation of new universities despite the poor condition of existing ones, questioning the rationale behind such expansion.
Academic quality and global reputation in decline
Prof Abimbola, who continues to lecture in major US institutions at the age of 92, expressed concern over Nigeria’s diminishing global academic reputation. Once ranked among the top 500 universities worldwide and within the top 11 in Africa, Nigerian institutions now struggle to remain within the top 1000.
He attributed this decline to the impoverishment of academic staff, which he said prevents them from participating in international conferences or publishing in global journals.
“Nigerian universities are slowly dying before our very eyes. It is a big shame.”
Call for urgent bail-out and commission of inquiry
In a passionate appeal, Abimbola urged the federal government to implement an urgent bail-out for the academic sector and establish a Commission of Inquiry to explore viable solutions.
“I think the best thing that we can do now is for the Federal Government to urgently set up a Commission of Inquiry on what we can really do to salvage the system and make things better.”
The discourse, themed “Nigerian Universities: Tower of Crises, Citadel of Missed Opportunities. Can the Lost Glory be Reclaimed?”, served as a platform for the former VC to highlight the systemic challenges facing higher education in Nigeria and to advocate for immediate and meaningful reform.
Source: Twitter
Nigerian university professors salary
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigerian university professors have formally declared that their monthly salaries should not fall below N2.5 million.
They insisted that the current pay scale is no longer sustainable in the wake of the current economic realities.
The demand comes amid protests across several campuses on Tuesday, August 26, as members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) criticised the federal government for failing to implement the renegotiated 2009 FGN–ASUU agreement.
Source: Legit.ng
