Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi has expressed deep concern over the deteriorating working conditions and earnings of university professors in Nigeria.
In a post on his official X handle, Obi shared a disheartening encounter with a friend, a university professor of 14 years, who sought his assistance in securing a Special Adviser position to a House of Representatives candidate, citing better remuneration and perks compared to his current academic role.
Highlighting the alarming situation, Obi conducted a comparative analysis, revealing that over the span of 14 years, a Nigerian university professor’s salary has remained stagnant at approximately N400,000.
With the exchange rate shifting from N150.10 to N1,510 per dollar during this period, the professor’s salary in dollar terms plummeted from $2665 to a mere $265.
Expressing his dismay, Obi emphasised the crucial role of the education sector in national development, urging the need for a committed workforce. He questioned how the country could attract such dedication when the earnings of its professors were regressing.
Obi articulated, “While in Nsukka, I met one of those brilliant fellows I knew while I was a student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in the 80s.
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“The fellow graduated with a first class and became a lecturer in the institution. When I later visited the University as the then Governor of Anambra State, he proudly announced to me that he was already a professor and I rejoiced with him.
“I met him again in Nsukka on Wednesday, but our exchange of pleasantries resulted in very pathetic tales about his general welfare. I noticed in his look and mien that all his happiness of being a professor had vanished.
“He broke my heart when he requested that I put in words for him so that Hon Dennis Agbo can appoint him as Special Adviser when he wins.
“The reason for the bizarre request that shocked me was that he would earn more and receive more perks as an SA than as a Professor. Touched by this and applying my finance background I decided to do some comparative analysis.
“By January 31, 2010, the salary of a Nigerian University Professor was about N400,000. With the then prevalent exchange rate of N150.10 per dollar, the salary amounted to about $2665.
“Fourteen years later, on January 31, 2024, the salary of a University Professor remains about N400,000. With the prevailing exchange rate of N1,510 per dollar, the same salary now amounts to about $265.
“So after putting in 14 years of hard work, having attained the zenith of his academic career, a Nigerian University Professor now earns 10% of what he earned 14 years ago – this is only possible in Nigeria,” he lamented.
Obi further stated, “A few years ago, a Toyota Corolla cost N4.8 million, so his annual salary without any expenditure on any other item, amounting to about N4.8 million, could buy a Toyota Corolla.
“Today, the same Toyota Corolla costs about N52 million which is more than 10 years of his salary without expenditure, to be able to buy one, after having attained the highest point one can achieve in academia.
“Considering the critical role education plays in the development of a nation, and the low human development index, HDI, we are currently at, we require as many hands and a committed workforce as we can get in that sector.
“But can we get such, when the earnings of our professors are going backward relatively? Sadly, we are in the same country where the government can use an amount enough to buy 3 Toyota Corollas, to buy personal SUVs for the legislators, whose annual earnings amount to several times that of the university professor and can now afford to pay the professor more than he can earn from lecturing in a premier university in Nigeria.
“How does one then remain earnestly committed to contributing to the critical development of the nation?
“My campaign, therefore, is to dismantle this criminality and create a functional society where people’s talents, efforts and sacrifices will match up with their opportunities in life.
“We can reverse this negative trend and build a fairer society. A new and different nation is POssible,” Obi concluded.