Brain Drain: Why 239 First Class Honours lecturers left UNILAG last 7 years –Former Vice-Chancellor

*Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, in Nigeria, decries apparently poor remuneration, inclement working conditions, and low motivation for the rising brain drain, highlighting what this untoward development portends for future of the Nigerian University system

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

In regard to the deepening brain drain affecting the country’s University system and other tertiary institutions of learning, about 239 First Class Honours graduates of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka-Yaba, in Lagos State of Nigeria, earlier employed as lecturers, have left the institution in the last seven years.

Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, immediate past Vice-Chancellor (VC) of UNILAG, said this Tuesday, August 26, 2025, while speaking as Guest Lecturer at The Punch Forum.

The forum with the theme: “Innovative Funding of Functional Education in the Digital Age”, held at The Punch Place, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in Ogun State.

Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, ex-Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG

Brain drain in Nigerian Universitieshas been described as “the large-scale migration of academics to other countries, driven by poor working conditions, inadequate compensation, limited research funding, and insecurity.”

ConsumerConnect reports experts have observed that this ugly trend is severely impacting the quality of higher education by reducing staff numbers, hindering research, and degrading the overall academic environment.

Reeling off the available statistics, Prof. Ogundipe disclosed UNILAG retained 256 First Class graduates as lecturers between 2015 and 2022, but only 17 remained in the institution’s employ as of October 2023.

The former Vice-Chancellor also attributed the mass exodus of such brilliant minds to poor remuneration, unconducive working conditions, and low motivation among lecturers, The Punch report said.

He related: “At UNILAG, we decided that those with First Class Honours should be employed.

“What is remaining is not up to 10 per cent. All of them have gone. One day, I asked the man in charge to give me this information.

He further said: “In 2015, 86 were employed; in 2016, 82; during my time (as Vice-Chancellor), that is, 2017 to 2022, 88 were employed.

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“As of October 2023, only 17 were on the ground. They have gone.

“Very soon, in the next 10 years, you will have only females in the Universities if something is not done.”

Projection on human capital development in Nigerian Universities

According to him, unless the Nigerian Government adequately funds the sector, the Universities, in the next decade, would be dominated by “women”, while poorly prepared candidates would gain entry admissions into postgraduate programmes.

Ogundipe affirmed that “many of us are tired. By the time you get home, there is no light, and the Federal Government is saying they are giving us N10 million to access as loans.

“You can see how our lives have been devalued. Can I use N10 million to build a security post?”

The scholar, who is Pro-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Ede, in Osun State, quipped: “How do you encourage them? Many of our colleagues, especially the young ones, are tired.

“The unfortunate thing is that two things will happen in the Universities soon.”

The erstwhile VC of UNILAG asserted first, “Women will be the ones to occupy Universities, like we have in secondary schools.

“Second, the calibre of people who will come for postgraduate studies will be people who are not supposed to come.”

On years of funding restraint in education sector

Ogundipe lamented chronic underfunding of the education sector of the economy.

He equally noted that both Federal and state allocations have consistently remained below 10 percent, far short of UNESCO’s recommended 15 to 26 percent.

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Ogundipe, therefore, urged legislators to enact a law mandating that each first-generation university receive at least N1 billion annually to address decayed infrastructure.

Several Nigerian Universities are compelled to rely on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which ought to be channelled into research.

He as well lamented that infrastructure, technology, teachers’ remuneration, research support, and digital facilities in Universities currently, are either overstretched or completely absent.

The former Vice-Chancellor stated: “In the period from 2015 to 2025, Nigeria’s education sector has faced tremendous fiscal restraint.

“Federal budget allocations — even after headline increases in absolute Naira terms — have consistently remained below 10 percent, and most years hover between 4.5 and 7.5 percent.”

He asserted: “The consequences of chronic underfunding are immediate and profound: Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children worldwide, estimated at between 10 and 22 million.

“Over 60 percent of primary education funding is absorbed by teacher salaries, often with little left for capital expenditure or innovation.”

Ogundipe advocated “innovative funding strategies” beyond government allocations, including Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) model, alumni endowments, philanthropy, education bonds, optimising digital platforms, and linking funding to measurable outcomes, among others to improve the West African country’s University system.

“Innovative mechanisms for education include shared risk/reward models for infrastructure, investors repaid only if outcomes are achieved, risk capital to support EdTech and innovative schools, leveraging the Nigerian Diaspora for targeted investments, debt swaps for education, education technology grants, corporate donations, and capacity-building linked to business and reputation,” he noted.

Ogundipe, therefore, urged the Federal and State Governments to raise education allocations.

He also identified critical roles for the private sector, alumni, civil society, faith-based organisations, and donor agencies in this regard.

Ogundipe said: “The private sector should see education support not just as social responsibility but as enlightened self-interest in building the workforce, the talent, and the markets of tomorrow.

“Invest not only in infrastructure, but in people, curricula, and research that advance national development.

“To alumni, home and abroad, remember that the institutions that made you now need you.

“Give, mentor, endow, advise, and advocate for your alma mater and the next generation.”

The scholar stated: “To civil society and faith-based groups, continue to be the vanguards of inclusion, equity, and grassroots school transformation.

“To the Nigerian media, lead the narrative, demand reforms, report boldly and analytically, and make education funding a national priority.”

He added: “To international and donor agencies, partner with us, but let us increasingly build our domestic resource mobilisation and institutional resilience. “Above all, to every Nigerian, let us see education as the most sacred trust we must pass to our children.

“Our fingerprints, our footprints, our names should be found in the library buildings, the digital labs, the scholarships, and the lives changed.”

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