By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Dr Kehinde Oyetimi, a lecturer with the University of Ibadan, says lecturers working in federal universities are leaving in droves to state universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education because of poor salaries.
Oyetemi told Impact Nigeria Newspaper that, unlike what obtained in the past, the situation is being reversed, signalling a bad turn of events for federal universities.
He said, “I don’t think people know how badly federal university lecturers are earning. It is very bad. If you come in with a PhD as a lecturer II, your take-home will be around N196,000. You won’t even get that immediately until you have got to a few steps, still in the same rank. So, what you will be earning if you come is around N160,000 with a PhD as lecturer II
“A senior lecturer in any federal university in Nigeria does not even earn up to N350,000. If you become a professor at any federal university, your salary is about N420,000.
“What has never happened is happening now. Many federal university lecturers are moving to state universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education because they are better paid. A professor in a state university collects over N1 million. Can you beat that? People are leaving federal universities. They are leaving.
“The Federal Government has now mandated all federal universities to put out vacancies to employ, but who will want to join with the poor payment? What about the facilities?”
On the demands made by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which necessitated a two-week warning strike, Oyetimi said the Federal Government has not demonstrated that it is committed to meeting the demands and is not sincere in honouring agreements reached with the union.
He queried why the government did not honour the recommendations of the Mahmud Yayale Ahmed-led committee, which was constituted by the government last year, but instead formed an expanded committee to make counter offers to ASUU.
Oyetimi said, “The Federal Government set up a committee last year, led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, to speak to ASUU. That committee met, made recommendations, Yayale Ahmed took that recommendation to the Federal Government. You jettisoned that and are now calling ASUU again after ASUU threatened a strike, saying you want to form another expanded committee.
“The only time they decided to do anything about that report of that committee that the Federal Government set up was when ASUU threatened strike action. ASUU gave a deadline, they said ASUU should move it, it did and you are asking ASUU to move the deadline again.
“When ASUU threatened that it was going on strike if nothing was done, they now started calling ASUU for a meeting on Friday, the last working day to the strike action.
“The counter offer they made is ridiculous. They didn’t even look at the recommendations of the Yayale Ahmed committee. They cancelled everything and said it is a 25 per cent increase they want to give ASUU for a salary that has been running since 2009. This is even before other deductions are made. Is it not a joke?”
