By Chinasaokwu Helen Okoro
No fewer than 239 first-class graduates employed as lecturers at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have resigned from the institution in the last seven years, largely due to poor pay and harsh working conditions.
Former Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, disclosed this on Tuesday while delivering a lecture at The PUNCH Forum themed “Innovative Funding of Functional Education in the Digital Age,” held at The PUNCH Place, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
According to him, the university recruited 256 first-class graduates as lecturers between 2015 and 2022, but only 17 remained in the system as of October 2023.
“At UNILAG, we decided to employ those with first-class honours. Today, less than 10 per cent are still here. In 2015, 86 were hired; in 2016, 82; and between 2017 and 2022, 88 more joined. Now, only 17 remain,” he said.
Ogundipe attributed the exodus to poor remuneration, low motivation, and inadequate facilities, warning that Nigerian universities risk being dominated by women within a decade, while underqualified candidates flood postgraduate programmes.
He criticised chronic underfunding of education, noting that federal and state allocations have remained below 10 per cent, far short of UNESCO’s recommended 15–26 per cent. He called for legislation mandating at least ₦1bn annually for each first-generation university to address decaying infrastructure.
Highlighting the overstretched state of infrastructure, digital facilities, and research support, he warned that Nigeria’s education crisis is worsening, with the country already recording the world’s highest number of out-of-school children—estimated between 10 and 22 million.
Ogundipe, now Pro-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, urged a shift towards innovative funding models beyond government allocations. These, he said, should include public-private partnerships, alumni endowments, education bonds, diaspora investments, corporate donations, and technology-driven initiatives.
“The private sector must see education not just as social responsibility but as an investment in the workforce and markets of tomorrow,” he said. “Alumni at home and abroad must also step up—through donations, mentorship, endowments, and advocacy. The institutions that built you now need you.”
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