A few weeks ago, I sat across from a bright, young academic whom I mentor. He had tried for weeks to reach me, not to discuss research or new teaching methods, but to say goodbye. He was leaving Nigeria.
His reason? “My salary does not cover my family’s essentials,” he said. “I am exhausted from juggling lectures and research, with nothing left to supplement my income. How do I buy a house? Travel for Hajj? Support my extended family?” I had no answers—only memories of when I, decades ago, could build a house from part-time lecturing income. Today, a professor juggles multiple jobs, still unable to fuel a car.
The death of Professor Abubakar Roko, who could not raise ₦13 million for medical treatment, is a national shame. His brilliance was not enough to save him. His story should have jolted us, but weeks later, silence remains. Then came a viral video of Professor Balarabe Abdullahi, articulating what many whisper: professors beg for food. Some die in accidents while travelling long distances for poorly paid visiting lectureships. Salary delays stretch to 45 days. Polytechnics now pay better than universities. And the result? Brain drain. Mediocrity. A generation of engineers who cannot build, doctors who cannot heal, and lawyers who fumble with the law. Universities are the soul of any nation’s progress. When intellectuals are humiliated, the country is in decline.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has the key: approve the Yayale Ahmed report. The solutions are there. All that’s left is political will. For the sake of the future, let us stop treating professors like beggars—and start treating them like the nation-builders they are.
