A respected voice in Nigerian academia has delivered a stark warning that should make every parent and student sit up and take notice: our universities are collapsing, and it’s happening right before our eyes.
Professor Wande Abimbola, former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), didn’t mince words when he painted a devastating picture of how far Nigerian higher education has fallen during his appearance on Boiling Point Arena.
According to report, Nigerian professors whom we entrust with educating our future leaders, earn roughly ₦500,000 per month. That’s about $300.
To put this in perspective, Professor Abimbola dropped a comparison that hits like a punch to the gut: “When converted, this is almost equivalent to the $300 academics elsewhere in the United States will use to take care of their garden within just three hours.”
What a Nigerian professor earns in an entire month, an American academic might spend on lawn care in a single afternoon.
The pain in Professor Abimbola’s voice was unmistakable as he recounted returning to OAU, where he once served as Vice-Chancellor. What he found wasn’t the thriving institution he remembered.
“About two years ago, I went back to the University where I was the VC. I visited my Department, and I was told that a full professor earns about ₦500,000 monthly,” he shared, the disappointment evident in his words.
But the salary revelation was just the beginning of his concerns.
Professor Abimbola painted a picture of dramatic decline that’s both shocking and heartbreaking.
During his tenure in 1989, Nigerian universities were still making waves globally, ranked among the world’s best institutions.
“Our institutions were still at their peak of quality,” he recalled.
But then came the devastating part: “However, within five years or less than ten years after my exit, I visited the University and almost cried because of what I saw.
The level of decadence has only gotten worse since then.”
Imagine a former Vice-Chancellor – someone who dedicated his career to building academic excellence – almost crying at what his beloved institution had become.
Professor Abimbola didn’t hold back when addressing what he sees as misguided government priorities.
His frustration was clear as he called out authorities for creating new universities while letting existing ones rot.
His solution is brutally honest: if governments can’t properly fund these institutions, “they should wind them up” instead of letting them decay slowly.
“The most important thing about university is funding,” he emphasized. “We need to ask our governments why they have been aloof until things got this bad.”
The former VC is calling for the Federal Government to urgently establish a Commission of Inquiry to recommend concrete steps to rescue the system.
“A Commission of Inquiry is needed urgently to find solutions and make things better,” he stressed, his words carrying the weight of someone who’s watched a system he helped build crumble over decades.
Perhaps the most painful part of Professor Abimbola’s assessment is how far Nigerian universities have fallen in international rankings.
These were institutions that once proudly stood among the top 500 universities worldwide and ranked in the top 11 across Africa.
Now? They’ve lost their place entirely.
“Nigerian universities are slowly dying before our very eyes. It is a big shame,” he concluded, his words echoing what many in academia have been saying quietly for years.
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