Weak naira impoverished lecturers, led to mass exodus – UNILAG VC

The vice chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Folashade Ogunsola, has said the devaluation of the naira impacted the salaries of university workers, leading to mass exodus of staff in search of greener pastures abroad.

Professor Ogunsola, who said this during a media parley, added that the education sector suffered from the country’s dwindling economy in 2023, leaving the sector bereft of young tutors.

“For the education sector, 2023 was a tough time in many respects. The state of the country was not favourable to the academics. The exchange rate made our poor salaries even poorer, and so, from the point of view of the education sector, it was a time when people left in droves. It was a tsunami of exit.

“Many academics, especially our younger lecturers, left the system. Many of the people who didn’t leave are doing it out of patriotism, not for lack of where to go,” she said.

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She, however, said the university needed to design a fund mechanism to sustain and improve the standard of education.

Giving account of her stewardship since assumption of office on November 14, 2022, she said the university made steady progress despite the grim economic climate and many disruptions

She stressed that the administration was determined to ensure that the university could grow and deliver on its mandate of teaching, research and service through the future-ready agenda encapsulated by the four pillars of growth: Growing the Finance, Growing the Infrastructure, Growing the Reputation and Growing the Manpower (FIRM).

Prof Ogunsola noted that various faculties of the institution had been recognised for research studies and attracted over N11bn research grants in the last one year.

The vice chancellor noted that in response to global standard and industry needs, the university was undertaking major redesign of some of its academic programmes.

 “Specifically, we are unbundling our programmes in Architecture, Creative Arts and Mass Communication and establishing them as stand-alone faculties to foster growth in these fields, where we can boast of our distinctive strength,” she said.