In this country, lecturing remains one of the most lucrative jobs, aside from the fact that most lecturers teach in other schools, thereby neglecting their duty in their main institution.
I can’t even remember the last time a Nigerian professor carried out a successful research. The constant clamour for wage increment and 70 years retirement age for professors lack moral justification and a reflection of greed and insensitivity to the plight of the younger generation.
I cannot understand the justification for 70 years retirement, when even at 65 years, many of them are managing one health condition or another. Yet, we are crying about unemployment among qualified unemployed youths in the country.
When last did the Academic Staff Union of Universities members truly embark on a strike due to the poor infrastructure in the universities, poor funding among others? Instead, they will rather use all that as a cover-up to gain public sympathy to actualize their unending demand for more pay.
Once the demand for salary is met, they forget other issues. Yet, these are the same people that enjoyed free education and scholarships during the early days of the nation. The zeal with which lecturers fight for their selfish interest, if that same zeal is used to pursue the development of the educational sector, I am sure by now our institutions would be competing with the best in the world.
This, unfortunately, is not the case because of incessant strikes by the lecturers. The cumulative effect of all this is that Nigerian universities yearly produce half-baked and unemployable graduates.
FASANMI Kayode,
Business Area, Lagere,
Ile Ife, Osun State.
