Amid a worsening economic situation, galloping inflation, poor remuneration and neglect by the government, lecturers in Nigerian universities have become emasculated by the trio of desperation, debts and deaths. Beneath the regalia and academic titles lies a grim reality: poor salary, crumbling morale, and diminishing dignity, writes IYABO LAWAL
• Gross, net salaries still same, says ASUU, CONUA
• Issues of autonomy, welfare persist despite migration
Nigerian lecturers, including professors, are the lowest paid in the world. Since 2009, their salaries have remained the same apart from the additional N40,000 consequential adjustment based on the previous minimum wage.
Despite their exemption from the controversial Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and subsequent migration to the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS), the financial status of university teachers has remained the same in terms of salaries and emoluments.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Congress of University Academics (CONUA) said that despite their migration from IPPIS to GIFMIS, their salaries have not changed.
ASUU lamented that across Nigeria, thousands of its members are struggling to survive, as the situation is rapidly deteriorating across all campuses.
National President of the union, Prof Chris Piwuna, disclosed that most members trek several kilometres from their houses to the office, while others commute by public transport after abandoning their vehicles.
At the University of Abuja, he said some of the lecturers now sleep in their offices because they cannot afford to fuel their cars.
Similarly, CONUA National President, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said despite their migration to GIFMIS, there is no difference in their salaries, in terms of gross, deductions, and the net.
Sunmonu noted that, except in nomenclature, both IPPIS and GIFMIS are the same.
“Maybe the only other difference, which is immaterial at this very point, is that different universities now get to be paid at different times. But in terms of what we put in our pockets, which is what matters to us, it is still the same.
Sunmonu noted that except for the recent 25 per cent increment for non-professors and 35 per cent for professors, the salaries of university teachers
have remained the same since 2009.
He emphasised the need for a drastic improvement in the remuneration of university teachers, in line with the current economic realities.
Lecturer salaries in Nigeria combine a basic salary scale with allowances for housing, transport and research. Federal, state and private institutions each apply slightly different structures, and periodic inflation adjustments have struggled to keep pace with living costs.
Supplemental grants, consultancy stipends and overtime payments can boost take-home pay, but not all academics access these extras equally.
Lecturers at Grade Level 07 receive a basic monthly salary of N120,000 to N150,000. Housing and transport allowances of N50,000 to N70,000 raise total earnings into the N170,000–N220,000 range.
At Grade Level 08, basic pay increases to N150,000–N200,000. Combined with housing allowance (N60,000), transport allowance (N40,000) and occasional overtime takings, monthly income typically falls between N250,000 and N300,000. In some institutions, a teaching allowance of N20,000 further boosts earnings.
Grade Level 09 academics draw a basic salary of N200,000–N250,000. With housing (N70,000), transport (N50,000) and a standard research grant (N30,000), total monthly earnings range from N350,000 to N400,000. Consultancy fees and seminar facilitation can add another N30,000–N50,000 per month.
On the Consolidated Academic Salary Scale, senior lecturers receive N300,000–N350,000 basic pay. Allowances for housing (N100,000), transport (N70,000) and research or skills upgrade (N50,000) push monthly income to N520,000–N570,000.
Full professors in the top tier draw a basic salary of N500,000–N600,000. With enhanced allowances, housing (N150,000), transport (N100,000), research (N100,000) and editorial stipends, the monthly take-home can reach N850,000-N950,000.
Findings by The Guardian showed that no lecturer in some of the African countries earns less than $2,000 (about N3.3 million) per month, while those in professorship cadre earn up to $10,000 (N16.5 million) per month, but here in Nigeria, a professor earns just $300 (N495,000) per month, which is less than half a million naira.
In South Africa, the average salary for a lecturer ranges from R19,000 to R40,000 per month, with a median total pay of around R27,000 per month. This includes both basic pay and additional compensation like bonuses or commissions.
Entry-level lecturers may start with a basic salary of around R240,000 per year, while experienced lecturers earn up to R7,371,000 per year.
The average lecturer’s salary in the United Kingdom is £37,058 per year, entry-level positions start at £29,612, while the most experienced workers make up to £48,544 per year.
In the United States, the average lecturer salary is $66,355 per year, entry-level position starts at $52,213 per year, while the most experienced workers make up to $104,392 per year.
In Canada, the average salary for a lecturer is around $86,039 per year, and it ranges between $64,000 and $116,000 yearly. It also varies depending on the university, location, and specific experience.
The poor pay package has forced many lecturers to seek greener pastures abroad, while over 80 per cent of those remaining are also contemplating leaving.
The union had argued that an improved pay package for its members would achieve two aims: compensate for ballooning living costs and prevent lecturers from travelling abroad to seek greener pastures.
In his efforts to properly situate the problems, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), Olufemi Bamiro, in showing the connection between improved workers’ welfare and staffing strength in the university system, said the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement encouraged more Nigerians to take up jobs as lecturers in the universities.
According to statistics provided by the scholar, as of the 2006/2007 academic calendar year, with about 100 universities and a total student enrolment of 1,096,312 across the federal, state, and private universities, Nigeria had 27,394 lecturers in all the universities.
The data further revealed that the federal universities that had 58.3 per cent of student enrolment also contributed a total of 17,836 lecturers, while the state universities that had 38.5 per cent of student enrolment had only 7,586 academic staff. For the private universities that contributed only 3.1 per cent of student enrolment, there were only 1,972 lecturers.
Quoting the then Executive Secretary of NUC, Peter Okebukola, the former vice chancellor said of the 27,394 academic staff, those on the professor/reader cadre constituted just 5,483, amounting to 20 per cent; those on the senior lecturer cadre constituted 6,475, amounting to 23.6 per cent, while those on the lecturer one cadre constituted 15,436, amounting to 56.4 per cent.
“Computation using the current approved student/teacher ratio, however, indicates that the Nigerian University System requires a total of 34,712 academic staff for effective course delivery across the disciplines,” he stated.
To achieve an improved staff-student ratio based on the student enrolment figure and the university staff strength as of the 2007 academic session, Bamiro said Nigerian universities would require an additional 7,318 lecturers to increase the figure to 34,712.
Although some of the institutions have made submissions on the issue of recruitment for consideration and approval, the process for recruitment is still being coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Education.
But ASUU has consistently kicked against this practice of the ministry overseeing recruitment processes for the universities, describing it as a flagrant breach of the autonomy universities have to recruit staff.
Piwuna, said universities, guided by their governing councils, are the ones empowered to handle staff recruitment.
“What does the head of service or the ministry of education have in terms of knowledge of the university system? Our universities need to operate within the laws guiding them, which are covered by the Autonomy Act. But as it is, honestly, it is quite sad,” he lamented.
ASUU has long argued that the IPPIS system does not accommodate certain allowances and fails to protect the interests of university lecturers.
“ASUU’s position is that the finances of each university should be managed by the council, and not by the Accountant General’s office. Every year, the governing council directs the vice chancellor to defend its budget at the National Assembly. When the budget is approved, including salary, remuneration and overhead, it will go to the President for assent, and it becomes a law.”
He noted that the money should be released to the governing council of each institution to pay its staff members, in line with the principle of university autonomy as stipulated by law.
Besides, he stated that universities should be given autonomy to plan for staff recruitment and how to pay their salaries.
Similarly, Sunmonu urged the federal government to review lecturers’ salaries in line with Nigeria’s current economic realities.
“A professor in Nigeria currently earns less than $300 a month. Today, our lecturers – the highly competent ones – are leaving Nigeria in droves for abroad. Ironically, no lecturers are coming to Nigeria from abroad to teach in Nigerian universities.
“What we are doing right now is training our lecturers and exporting them to other countries because of the low pay. Yet, the government is not bothered about improving the pay to retain talent. Many lecturers can no longer afford to drive their cars to work because they cannot afford to fuel their vehicles. They are now depending on public transportation,” he lamented.
As inflation pressures persist, continuous review of academic salary structures and equitable access to allowances remain critical to retaining Nigeria’s brightest teaching talent.
