UNILAG Don Bemoans Lecturers’ Massive Resignation, Lack of Interest, Seeks Improved Working Conditions.
A lecturer at the University of Lagos, Prof. Uchenna Udeani, has called on the federal and state governments to urgently improve condition of service for lecturers to retain them and attract younger ones.
Udeani, a Professor of Science Education and immediate past Director of the university’s Distance Learning Institute, stated this in an interview in Lagos.
According to her, low morale among lecturers in public tertiary institutions, resignations and retirements by others, and lack of interest by younger ones are creating a huge gap in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
She described the situation as worrisome, saying that it should be addressed without delay in the interest of tertiary education development.
“I joined the university system in 1982, as an assistant lecturer, at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and got my PhD in 1992, while still lecturing in the same university.
“Since then, I have been involved in teaching, research and community services.
“My career has been nomadic; I have been to four universities, among which are UNN, Rivers State University of Science and Technology now University of Port Harcourt, and then joined UNILAG in 1994, about 32 years now.
“When we joined, for example, like during holidays when the students are no longer on campus, activities are usually low, but that does not mean that the lecturers will not be at their various duty posts.
”Currently, I am seeing a workforce that is too demoralised, and I think that such demoralisation is seriously affecting the system.
“When we joined, we always had that bond, that friendship; we were always around to support and keep each other company, but these days, it is like the younger ones have challenge of survival.
“They are thinking of transport fares, energy bills, children’s school bills and many more, yet salary is not changing.” she said.
She added that lecturers hardly have the right tools to do their jobs. “With that mindset, you cannot expect the best from them, and that is quite worrisome,” Udeani said.
She also stressed the need to improve the condition of service, as well as enhance the working environment, adding that such would halt resignations among professors in public universities in search of better opportunities.
According to her, the development seems to be making younger lecturers not to show interest in their jobs, even when their attention is drawn to pursue or apply for grants.
“As a lecturer 1 or lecturer 2, the university should be able to provide you with a laptop, a printer and a comfortable office, as a matter of necessity, to be doing your work because you deserve it.
“Today, wherever you see any decent office, it is the lecturer who made it so, using his or her personal funds. Lecturers don’t get car loans, they cannot even attend conferences, whether local or international.
“Only a handful of them can afford to cater for the costs of all that are involved in such ventures if at all they are inevitable,” she said.
The don added that no meaningful impact can be made by poorly-treated intellectuals.
Udeani who will disengage from public service next year, expressed concern over the gap created by massive resignations of academics and lack of interest by others in the system.
“ In our own time, it was a pride to belong to the system, unlike what it is today. In my department alone, I guess all of us are in the professorial cadre. The younger ones have left, some professors have retired and more are retiring. People get promoted and no one is coming up.”
“This calls for serious concerns. A lot needs to be done. I perceive a situation whereby females would be more in the system than males.
“At the primary education level, I do not think there are still males there. Same goes for secondary education. If ever they are, they are extremely few,” she said.
, Education – THISDAYLIVE, October 29, 2025, 12:56 am
