Some Nigerian professors have demanded that their pay be increased to at least N2.5m per month, claiming that anything less was no longer acceptable.
Protests erupted on various campuses on Tuesday, as members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities criticised the Federal Government for failing to follow the renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement.
Lecturers have long complained about low pay and deteriorating working conditions in academia.
With teachers earning around N500,000 per month, some have been compelled to crouch in quarters, while others battle with students for space on buses designed for undergraduates.
Documents obtained by Chronicle NG show that under the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure, graduate assistants earn between N125,000 and N138,020 monthly, while professors earn between N525,010 and N633,333.
Assistant Lecturers earn N150,000–N171,487; Lecturer II, N186,543–N209,693; Lecturer I, N239,292–N281,956; Senior Lecturer, N386,101–N480,780; and Readers, N436,392–N522,212.
The professors insisted that their salaries should not fall below N2.5m.
Remi Aiyede, a professor at the University of Ibadan, claimed that Nigerian teachers were grossly underpaid in comparison to counterparts in other African countries.
He stated that a government-commissioned panel had previously recommended comparable values.
He said, “If you want to benchmark it across countries, you will see that the monthly pay of an average professor across Africa is between $2,000 and $4,000.
“So, if you break that down to naira, then you will have an idea of what we are talking about. In fact, a million naira is conservative. Professors in Nigeria should not earn less than N2.5m monthly.
“After the Nimi-Briggs Commission, there was a committee set up by this government, which looked into the matter. The report was submitted to the President, and if I understand what was written in that document, a professor should be earning about N2.5m.”
At the University of Lagos, Prof. Abigail Ndizika-Ogwezzy of the Department of Mass Communication emphasised the importance of fair remuneration for lecturers in order to deliver efficiently.
She noted that inadequate working circumstances were causing academics to overwork themselves.
“Anything less than N2.5m for a professor at the bar is not it; look at the reality. If I want to get a house to live in in this Akoka area, it’s not less than N3m per year. Then won’t I feed, pay my children’s fees, ride a good car and even take care of my health? Then when is my reward?
“We are carrying the burden of three, four, or five people. It is impacting our health, our eyes. We have to read scripts, prepare notes, do community service, conduct research, publish, and attend conferences. Meanwhile, we are all buying from the same market as private sector workers, yet many lecturers cannot pay their children’s school fees,” she added.
Prof. Sheriffdeen Tela of Babcock University in Ogun State also supported the N2.5 million proposal, stating that the discrepancy between professors and political office holders was unjustifiable.
He said, “If you are saying that a professor receives not less than N1.2m in a month, that means that in a year it’s still less than what the legislature takes home in a month. Some people were advocating N2.5m monthly, and yes, even with the kind of economy that we are in now, it makes sense.
“Many professors live on loans because their salaries are not enough. Instead of giving them appropriate pay, the Federal government wants to give them loans, which is wrong.”
Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, former ASUU president, also claimed that teachers should earn between N1 million and N5 million every month.
“If Nigeria truly values education and wants its universities to compete globally, professors must be paid what they are worth. Anything short of this will only worsen the brain drain,” he said.
