Ex-VC: 239 first-class lecturers quit UNILAG over poor pay
Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, former vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), says at least 239 first-class graduates who were recruited as lecturers left the institution within seven years due to poor salaries and working conditions.
Ogundipe spoke on Tuesday as guest lecturer at The PUNCH Forum, held at The PUNCH Place, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where he addressed the theme: “Innovative Funding of Functional Education in the Digital Age.”
He said UNILAG had retained 256 first-class graduates as lecturers between 2015 and 2022, but only 17 remained at the institution as of October 2023.
“At UNILAG, we decided that those with first-class honours should be employed. What is remaining is not up to 10 percent. All of them have gone,” Ogundipe said.
“In 2015, 86 were employed; in 2016, 82; during my time, that is, 2017 to 2022, 88 were employed. As of October 2023, only 17 were on the ground.
“They have gone. Very soon, in the next 10 years, you will have only females in the universities if something is not done.”
The former vice-chancellor linked the exodus to poor remuneration, lack of motivation, and the federal government’s unfulfilled promises to workers in higher institutions.
He warned that without urgent reforms, universities would soon admit poorly prepared candidates into postgraduate programmes.
“Many of us are tired. By the time you get home, there is no light, and the federal government is saying they are giving us N10 million to access as loans. You can see how our lives have been devalued. Can I use N10 million to build a security post?” he asked.
Ogundipe said younger lecturers are losing interest in the system, adding that the future of universities could be marked by a lopsided gender balance and declining academic quality if the government fails to properly fund the education sector.
