Nigerian youths seem frustrated by the socio-economic challenges fuelled by unfulfilled government promises and bad leadership. The country’s university system is not immune to these horrid situations, as most of its members of staff are embracing the japa trend. CHINAKA OKORO writes that worried by this, some Vice-Chancellors, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other stakeholders have expressed concern over the depletion of lecturers in the country’s universities, even as they urged the government to address the situation.
In the yesteryear, the Nigerian education system, especially the tertiary institutions, were pride of place to study and teach in. The university system then attracted some foreign students and lecturers. Most of the institutions were among the best in terms of university rankings, if not globally in Africa. That was then. The situation did change and things went awry.
As a result of the unpleasant situation, Nigerians, especially the youth who seem to have lost hope in the Nigerian system began to ‘flee’ beyond the shores of Nigeria. Not only the youth but also university lecturers who feel dissatisfied with the circumstances, in which they find themselves, joined the japa trend. The youth, professionals and skilled workers in Nigeria, resort to seeking greener pastures in foreign countries. They complained about bad governance, unemployment, unfavourable working conditions, and insecurity in Nigeria, among other factors, as some of the reasons fueling their movements away from their fatherland. In the circumstances, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently approved the implementation of 35 per cent and 23 per cent of salary increments for members of staff of federal tertiary institutions.
In a letter issued on September 14, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, Mr Ekpo Nta, said the Federal Government had released a circular on the implementation of the adjusted salary structure. The letter was addressed to the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman. But this seems to have come late as recent media reports indicate that about 50 per cent of lecturers have resigned from the various universities while more reportedly intend to join the fray.
We have a crisis on our hands, say V-Cs
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, blamed the dearth of lecturers on the employment embargo by the Federal Government. He, therefore, pleaded with the Federal Government to lift the embargo to enable the universities to bridge the gap. The gap was caused by some factors, including lecturers seeking greener pastures at home and abroad, retirement and deaths. He urged the authorities to provide the universities with an enabling environment that would discourage the brain drain.
The Vice-Chancellor of Salem University Lokoja, Prof. Alewo Johnson-Akubo described the shortage of lecturers as very unfortunate. He said though universities in the past tried to manage the situation through sabbaticals, now such arrangement has become difficult as the number of lecturers continues to shrink.
Still, on how to ameliorate the situation, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of Yobe State University, Dr Muhammad Lawan, advised the resuscitation of the culture of absorbing first-class graduates as lecturers. Another measure, according to Lawan that could help, is to expand the universities instead of establishing new ones.
Also, the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi noted that virtually all lecturers in the country’s universities are overstretched as a result of a shortage of lecturers.
“Each time I see what my lecturers are going through to cope with the workload, I feel for them. We used to have lecturers from other universities on sabbatical but IPPIS (the unified payment platform) doesn’t allow that anymore. Sabbatical is a university culture where a lecturer is allowed to go to another university to lecture.
This is not the best time for us, the vice-chancellors. This is because as a V-C, you have no power to employ a cleaner let alone a lecturer. You have to go to Abuja and start begging before you can have one,” he said. The V-C advised that there should be proper funding of the universities and removal of universities from the IPPIS platform, even as he added: “We (the universities) shouldn’t be subjected to civil service rules.”
Quality of degrees is in jeopardy, says ASUU
University lecturers who bear the brunt of the exit of their colleagues are also worried about the impact of this on their workload and academic standards. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Federal University of Lafia (FULafia) chapter states that the shortage of lecturers in the universities is affecting the standard and quality of education negatively.
“It is a fact that many lecturers have left the university system.This exodus is defined by the poor working conditions in the universities. The universities are coping largely because the few lecturers are being overburdened with excess workloads that are academic. In most departments, lecturers are made to teach large classes and more courses to be able to keep the courses running. It is common to find a lecturer teaching at all levels of a department with very poor facilities and very poor working conditions,” the Chairman of ASUU FULafia, Dr Sunday said.
Oraye further said the situation has put undue pressure on their health, which, in the long run, leads to high mortality rates among university lecturers. “During the last NEC meeting of the union held at the Kaduna State University in November, over 100 lecturers were reported to have died between August and November 2023, alone,” he said.
The ASUU Chairman of Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola in Adamawa, Dr El-Maude Gambo, advised that 30 per cent of the budget should be allocated to the education sector. He said this would engender the provision of facilities that would discourage lecturers from seeking greener pastures outside the country.
Chairman, ASUU, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) chapter, Dr Oluwagbemiga Adeleye blamed the shortage of lecturers on government policies and the bad economy. “When there is a ban, you won’t be able to replace lecturers who are no longer in the system. Another reason causing the shortage of lecturers is the negative economic impact on the citizens, which still boils down to government policies,” he said.
Lecturers cry out
The Head of Department of Guidance and Counseling of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, says the history of migration of lecturers from Nigeria was repeating itself. “In the 1980s, there was a similar scenario. Then it was called brain drain, but currently, it is called japa.
“The japa syndrome, which has been on for a while now, has brought nightmares to the university system. This is because of the high migration of lecturers to Europe, America, Asia and even to some African countries,” he said. He blamed the situation on some factors, adding: “First among these is the working environment in many universities which has dampened the morale of many academics. Another factor is poor remuneration, which is abysmally inhuman and disturbing,” Aremu said. According to him, Nigerian academics are the worst paid globally, a development, he said, has driven lecturers out of the country in mass proportions.
A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development of the University of Ibadan, Dr Idris Badiru, said the gravity of the shortage varied from one discipline to the other. “Everything has to get to Abuja before anything is done and the coping mechanisms are both institutional and individual. At the institutional level, the workload allocated to the available members of academic staff has simply increased; which means more responsibilities for the individual member of staff,” Badiru said.
A Lecturer in the Department of Business Education of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijebu-Ode, Dr Onatolani Hassan, identified poor welfare and working conditions as some factors responsible for the menace. “Most lecturers are travelling out of the country in pursuit of greener pastures. The salaries of lecturers have not been increased for a long time. The inflation rate is in double digits, eating deep into the income of lecturers, which has remained static while expenses are increasing daily. Lecturers are funding their research; no more grants from expected quarters.There is a heavy workload on the few lecturers you have on the ground,” he said.
A lecturer in the Department of Political Science of the University of Maiduguri, Ibrahim Kachala said the last eight years of the previous administration had wreaked havoc on the university system. Kachala said government policies and nonchalant attitude to public university education in Nigeria had affected the development of tertiary education in the country. He said this situation would worsen in 2024 when most of the professors employed in the 70s would exit the system.
Kachala’s colleague in the Department of Mass Communications, Mr Usman Abdallah said lack of government funding had made the university system to be unsuitable for learning and research.
Another lecturer at the University of Maiduguri, Sheriff Bamus urged that private organisations should utilise the universities for their Research and Development (R and D). “As it is done in other climes, businesses and private organisations should be mandated to utilise the universities for their R and D requirements as part of their corporate social responsibilities.
A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology of the University of Lagos, Dr Adeola Olatunji, says the shortage of manpower is harming teaching, research and community service. This, he said, has made lecturers overburdened with classwork as the student population continues to increase. According to him, with the provision of an enabling environment through improved remuneration and adequate facilities in the country’s universities, fewer Nigerians will travel out for greener pastures.
A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science of Prince Abubakar Audu University, Ayingba, Kogi State, Dr Ibrahim Nasir said universities were coping with a shortage of lecturers through improvisation. To say that there is a shortage of lecturers in the Nigerian university is an understatement. This is evident in the lecturer-to-student ratio in all the universities. In most cases, you have a ratio of one lecturer to over 2,050 students.
The main reason for this shortage of lecturers in the university system is usually poor remuneration. The take-home salary is grossly inadequate compared to what is obtainable globally,” he said.
Others react
Meanwhile, the National Vice-President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Mr Yinka Folarin said the shortage of lecturers had, in no small measure, impacted negatively on the country’s education system. Folarin said the situation had affected the quality of graduates of Nigeria’s university system.
A former V-C of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Idowu Olayinka reckoned that government policies had made recruitment in public universities nearly impossible since 2015. The problem, he said, was compounded by the introduction of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) into the operations of federal universities.
