Reports indicate that about ₦2.354 billion is spent monthly on the salaries and allowances of Nigeria’s 109 senators, an amount capable of covering the wages of 4,708 university professors nationwide.
The revelation has reignited public debate over the wide disparity between the earnings of political office holders and the pay of academics.
Senator Kawu Sumaila (Kano South) disclosed to BBC Hausa Service on 14 August 2024 that he receives ₦21.6 million monthly, including office running costs—a sum he said is equivalent to the salaries of about 43 senior professors.
“The amount of salary received per month is less than N1 million. If there are cuts, it comes back to about N600,000. In the senate, each senator is given N21 million every month as the cost of running his office,” he said.
In contrast, Professor Nasir Hassan-Wagini of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University disclosed that professors earn an average of ₦500,000 monthly after deductions.
Dr Niyi Sunmonu, National President of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), said Nigerian academics had remained on almost the same pay scale since 2009 until a partial increase was introduced last year.
“Currently, the gross salary of a professor is about ₦700,000. After tax and other deductions, it comes down to around ₦500,000. Under these conditions, it is difficult to afford a ₦10–15 million loan to replace a vehicle,” he explained.
Sunmonu warned that without urgent salary improvements, the quality of Nigeria’s universities could decline drastically within the next five to ten years.
Professors Balarabe Abdullahi of Ahmadu Bello University and Samuel Agu of Abia State University also lamented meagre salaries, which they said have forced many academics into side hustles such as adjunct lecturing, petty trading, or small business ventures.
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Chris Piwuna, has lamented that critical aspects of the 2009 agreement with the federal government on university autonomy, funding, and staff welfare remain unfulfilled.
“Even after the 25–35 percent wage increase, a professor earns less than ₦500,000. Our members are restless. The honeymoon with government is over,” he said.
Also speaking, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, former Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, called for a national conference to address salaries, funding, and systemic challenges facing the sector.