A shocking revelation has emerged from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), where more than 239 first-class graduates who were employed as lecturers have abandoned their positions in less than a decade, citing poor remuneration, lack of motivation, and inadequate working conditions as the driving factors behind their exit.
This disclosure was made public by the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, during his lecture at The PUNCH Forum in Lagos on Tuesday. He highlighted that between 2015 and 2022, the institution recruited a total of 256 brilliant first-class graduates as part of a deliberate policy to strengthen its academic workforce. However, by October 2023, only 17 of these bright minds remained in the system, while the rest had left for greener pastures either abroad or in other industries within Nigeria.
“At UNILAG, we decided that those with first-class honours should be employed, but today, what is left of them is not even up to 10 per cent. They have all gone. At one point, I had to request the data myself, and what I saw was alarming,” Ogundipe explained with deep concern.
He identified low wages, harsh economic realities, lack of adequate infrastructure, and absence of incentives as the major reasons for the mass departure. According to him, this trend, if not urgently addressed, will cripple Nigerian universities in the near future, creating two major crises: the feminisation of academia as more men exit, and a serious decline in the quality of postgraduate students produced locally.
“In 2015 alone, 86 first-class graduates were hired; in 2016, 82 more joined; and between 2017 to 2022, another 88 were brought in. But by October 2023, only 17 were still on ground. They have all left. If we continue this way, in the next decade universities will be heavily dominated by women, while the quality of our postgraduate research output will drastically decline,” he warned.
Ogundipe further painted a bleak picture of the challenges faced by academic staff, lamenting how poor welfare and harsh living conditions are driving away talent. “Many of us are simply tired. You get home and there is no electricity, yet the Federal Government says they are giving us N10 million as a loan. What exactly can I use N10 million for? Can it even build a security post on campus? Our lives as academics have been devalued,” he lamented.
He emphasised that these problems are rooted in Nigeria’s chronic underfunding of the education sector. He pointed out that over the past decade (2015–2025), budgetary allocations to education have consistently fallen below UNESCO’s recommended 15 to 26 per cent, hovering between a mere 4.5 and 7.5 per cent in most years. Despite nominal increases in naira terms, the reality remains that education funding has never crossed the 10 per cent threshold.
The consequences of this systemic neglect, Ogundipe noted, are dire and far-reaching. Nigeria today has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, estimated between 10 and 22 million. In addition, more than 60 per cent of available funds for primary education are swallowed up by salaries, leaving very little for infrastructural development, capital expenditure, or innovation in teaching and research.
To address the crisis, he proposed that the Federal Government must legislate a minimum of ₦1 billion annual allocation to each of the country’s first-generation universities to address decayed infrastructure and ensure sustainability. He also called for creative funding solutions such as public-private partnerships, alumni endowments, philanthropic donations, education bonds, and diaspora-driven investment in Nigerian universities.
“The private sector must begin to see its support for education not merely as corporate social responsibility but as an enlightened self-interest in developing the workforce, the talents, and the future markets of this nation. Alumni, both home and abroad, must also rise to the occasion. The institutions that shaped your lives now need you—whether through mentorship, funding, advocacy, or infrastructure support. We need you to give back and strengthen the next generation,” Ogundipe urged.
He also called on civil society and faith-based organisations to continue championing grassroots education reforms and equity. He challenged the Nigerian media to lead the conversation by demanding bold reforms, pushing education funding as a national priority, and reporting more analytically on the sector’s challenges and opportunities. Furthermore, he appealed to international development partners and donor agencies to continue their support while encouraging Nigeria to build greater domestic resource mobilisation and institutional resilience.
“Above all,” Ogundipe stressed, “education is the most sacred trust we must pass on to our children. Every Nigerian should aspire to leave their fingerprints, footprints, names, and legacies within the libraries, the digital laboratories, the scholarships, and the lives we touch through education.”
The former Vice-Chancellor concluded by reiterating that prioritising research, technology adoption, and the welfare of teachers is crucial if Nigeria is to avert the looming crisis facing its university system. Without immediate and decisive intervention, the mass exodus of top intellectual talent will deepen, leaving the nation vulnerable in the areas of innovation, workforce development, and global competitiveness.
The PUNCH Forum, where this call to action was made, was attended by key members of The PUNCH management and editorial team, as well as prominent academics, policymakers, and education stakeholders, all of whom acknowledged the urgent need for reforms to rescue Nigeria’s crumbling education system.