The former vice chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof Wande Abimbola, has decried the poor pay of Nigerian university lecturers, saying what a professor earns monthly is just about what a gardener earns in three hours in the United States.
Abimbola, who is now based in the United States, spoke as guest on the monthly interview discourse, Boiling Point Arena, hosted by a media professional and public relations strategist, Dr. Ayo Arowojolu.
Speaking on the topic “Nigerian universities: Tower of crises, citadel of missed opportunities. Can the lost glory be reclaimed?, Abimbola expressed worry that universities in the country were experiencing the worst of time with professors earning scandalous monthly take-home pay which is equivalent to what his own gardener takes for a three-hour job of cutting grasses and trimming flowers in his residence in America.
He said he learnt that a professor’s salary was roughly N500,000 a month. Upon conversion, the amount is comparable to the $300 which someone in the U.S. might spend on gardening in a single afternoon.
Recounting the decline in Nigeria’s university system, the renowned Ifa priest and babalawo said: “A university system is an important part of the fabric of any nation. As at 1989 when I left as vice-chancellor at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, our institutions were still at their peak of quality.
“However, within five years or less than ten years after my exit from the position of VC, I visited the university and almost cried because of what I saw, the level of decadence. It has been getting worse since then.
“So, if these governments are not interested in supporting the universities, they should wind them up. It’s a big shame to the Nigerian government. When I went to Ile-Ife campus, the lawns where children used to play had been overtaken. It’s a shame.
“We must ask our governments why they have been so aloof, simply standing by as things deteriorated to this point. It seems they don’t truly care.
“The worst part of it is that they are still establishing more universities. Everywhere you look, there’s a university of this and that. And why are they establishing more and more universities when the ones that exist are not catered for? Why are they not funding existing universities?
Abimbola declared that Nigeria’s university system is on the brink of collapse and urged the federal government to implement an immediate bailout for academic staff to revive the nation’s educational standards.
“Nigerian universities are slowly dying before our very eyes. It is a big shame. Why are they creating more and more universities when the current ones are not being properly funded?”
“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. I think we have reached a stage where we need recommendations, which hopefully the people in charge will look at and use to make things better,” he said.
He also lamented that Nigerian universities, once ranked among the top 500 globally and the top 11 in Africa, have now slipped to positions outside the top 1000.
He attributed the decline to a lack of understanding by government officials about the purpose of a university.
