University lecturers in Nigeria have raised alarm over poor remuneration and worsening conditions of service, warning that the situation is driving many academics out of the system.
According to the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS), Graduate Assistants earn between N125,000 and N138,020 monthly, while Professors receive between N525,010 and N633,333. Assistant Lecturers earn between N150,000 and N171,487; Lecturer II, N186,543 to N209,693; Lecturer I, N239,292 to N281,956; Senior Lecturers, N386,101 to N480,780; and Readers, N436,392 to N522,212.
Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, described the current wage structure as demoralizing.
“The lecturers are tired, the morale is low, and lecturers are poorly paid. Academic staff members are on the edge, itching to leave. The standard of teaching is going down,” he said. “As Vice Chancellor, I earned N900,000 as salary. My present salary as a professor is N700,000. My son saw my pay slip and described it as a joke. Do you know that some lecturers sleep in the office?”
Similarly, President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke Piwuna, accused the government of neglecting academia while prioritizing pay rises for politicians.
“Our salaries have remained stagnant, and that has affected the quality of lecturers we can attract. That has also affected our morale, and because our morale is low, the output is also affected,” he said.
He noted that the last comprehensive review of lecturers’ salaries was in 2009, stressing that most professors still earn slightly above N400,000 despite years of service. “Professors that were earning a little over N400,000 have still not been able to get to the N500,000 mark except those who have had incremental increases for maybe 10, 20 years,” he added.
ASUU has consistently demanded a new wage structure and improved working conditions as part of its long-standing disputes with the federal government.
