UNILAG Loses 239 First-Class Graduates in Seven Years Due to Poor Pay and Conditions – Ogundipe
By Joseph Iyaji | Akahi News
Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has disclosed that 239 first-class graduates employed as lecturers left the university within seven years, citing inadequate pay and unfavourable working conditions.
Speaking at The Punch Forum on Tuesday, August 26, Ogundipe revealed that UNILAG had employed 256 first-class graduates between 2015 and 2022, but as of October 2023, only 17 remained. “At UNILAG, we decided that those with first-class honours should be employed. What is remaining is not up to 10 per cent. All of them have gone. One day, I asked the man in charge to give me this information. In 2015, 86 were employed; in 2016, 82; during my time, that is, 2017 to 2022, 88 were employed. As of October 2023, only 17 were on the ground. They have gone. Very soon, in the next 10 years, you will have only females in the universities if something is not done,” he said.
Ogundipe attributed the mass exit to poor salaries, lack of motivation, and worsening working conditions. He warned that without urgent reforms, universities would struggle to retain top talent and might admit ill-prepared postgraduate candidates. “Many of us are tired. By the time you get home, there is no light, and the Federal Government is saying they are giving us N10m to access as loans. You can see how our lives have been devalued. Can I use N10m to build a security post?” he lamented.
The revelations underscore the pressing need for structural reforms in Nigerian universities to ensure the retention of high-calibre academics and the sustainability of quality education.
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