By Muhammad Mamman
University lecturers across Nigeria have renewed calls for improved pay, lamenting that professors — the pinnacle of academia — take home as little as N525,000 per month.
According to the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS), entry-level Graduate Assistants earn between N125,000 and N138,020 monthly, while Assistant Lecturers earn N150,000 to N171,487. Salaries for Lecturer II range from N186,543 to N209,693; Lecturer I positions attract between N239,292 and N281,956; Senior Lecturers receive N386,101 to N480,780; and Readers earn N436,392 to N522,212. Professors, at the top of the ladder, earn between N525,010 and N633,333.
Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, described the situation as dire, warning that the morale of academics is at an all-time low.
“The lecturers are tired; morale is low, and they are poorly paid. Many are on the edge, ready to leave. The quality of teaching is falling,” he said. “As Vice-Chancellor, I earned N900,000 monthly. Today, as a professor, I earn N700,000. My son saw my pay slip and called it a joke. Some lecturers even sleep in their offices.”
President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke Piwuna, condemned the government’s failure to prioritise academia while consistently raising salaries for politicians.
“Nigerian elites look after themselves first. The very arms of government that citizens are most dissatisfied with are the ones getting pay rises. Meanwhile, lecturers, who work day and night to build this country, are neglected,” he said.
Piwuna warned that stagnant wages were discouraging bright minds from joining the academic profession, further eroding teaching quality and research output.
“Our conditions of service have not been properly reviewed since 2009. The so-called salary increases through minimum wage adjustments only added about N40,000 across the board. Many professors still earn below N500,000, except those who have spent decades in the system,” he explained.
The lecturers have vowed to intensify pressure on government for a comprehensive review of their pay, stressing that without better remuneration, Nigeria’s higher education system risks further decline.
