The Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan- Prof. Kayode Adebowale says the Nigerian University system is under threat due to the prevailing hostile environment and poor remuneration the lecturers are grudgingly coping with.
According to him, University lecturers in Nigeria are operating under terrible academic environment as a result of the delay in the replacement of ageing/retiring lecturers due to bureaucratic bottlenecks, coupled with poor remuneration resulting in low morale, both of which have combined to make teaching in the universities unattractive to young graduates.
Adebowale said this during a special departmental ”Gown-Town” seminar organised by the University’s Department of Agriculture in honour of retired Professors Gabriel Atiri and Adeniyi Togun on Thursday in Ibadan.
The theme of the seminar was, “Reaching Farmers with Improved Seeds for Food Sufficiency: Significance of Research and Extension.”
The Vice Chancellor said that apart from working in terrible academic environment, the nation’s lecturers are also poorly remunerated.
He said that the lecturers must be encouraged and treated adequately to encourage graduates to take up lecturing jobs in Nigeria with zeal.
“A professor in Nigeria earns a monthly salary of around N400, 000, while my salary as a Vice-Chancellor is less than N700,000.
“For somebody to stay in Nigeria to lecture is a great sacrifice, that is why we have to honour, encourage and celebrate those that have spent their lifetime in the system.
“Most students who want to become lecturers don’t want to remain in Nigeria, and this might have a negative effect on Nigeria’s education system in the future, ” he said.
Adebowale said that universities in Nigeria are not adequately funded and government bureaucracy made things difficult to the extent that it sometimes took nothing less than five years to recruit in the universities.
He noted that the aged lecturers were retiring, while those coming into the system who needed mentoringdid not have people to mentor them.
On Nigeria’s agricultural system, Adebowale noted that agriculture was very important, but most of the research efforts from universities were not reaching the farmers.
Also speaking, Dr Johnson Adetumbi of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, said that agricultural extension played a vital role in harnessing agricultural innovation to meet the SDG’s zero hunger and good health targets.
According to him, the system is key to increasing growth and reducing poverty. “It is important to enhance the connection between agricultural extension system and other agricultural researches in order to guarantee the widespread adoption of agricultural advancements by farmers.
“It is also important to empower and equip agricultural extension agencies and research efforts to proficiently execute their professional duties,” Adetumbi, a Deputy Director, said.
In her remark, Prof. Morufat Balogun, Head of Department, Crop Production and Environmental Biology, said the department decided to annually hold the Gown-Town seminar in order to take their innovations to farmers.
Balogun said that the department saw the retired professors as iconic potential, who could solve modern-day challenges such as climate change, pest and diseases, among others.
Also contributing, the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, UI, Prof. Andrew Omojola, said the retired professors had contributed immensely to the department and the university in general, and would be remembered for their contributions.
