Senators Earn Billions While Professors Struggle: Inside Nigeria’s Wage Disparity

Amount Senators Earn Uncovered and How It’s Capable of Paying Salaries of Over 4000 

By  Ezra Ukanwa 

Reports revealed that about N2.354 billion was spent monthly on 109 senators’ salaries and office costs, enough to pay 4,708 professors.

Academics lamented meagre pay, harsh conditions, and economic hardship, warning of declining university quality and rising migration.

Education rights advocates and ASUU called for urgent reforms, criticising the salary disparity between politicians and professors.

Reports have it that about N2.354 billion is spent monthly on the salaries of 109 Nigerian senators, and the cost of running their offices could cover the wages of 4,708 university professors nationwide. 

The revelation has reignited debates over the stark disparity between political office holders’ earnings and academics’ pay. 

Senators’ pay cheques are said to be sufficient to feed and pay more than 4,000 professors in Nigeria. 

Senator Kawu Sumaila (Kano South) told BBC Hausa Service on 14 August 2024 that he received N21.6 million monthly, including office running costs, enough to pay the salaries of roughly 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. 

Professor Nasir Hassan-Wagini of Umaru Musa Yar’adua University revealed that professors earn on average N500,000 monthly after deductions, as reported by Daily Trust. 

Dr Niyi Sunmonu, national president of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), said academics had been on nearly the same pay scale since 2009 until a partial increase last year.

 “Currently, the gross salary of a professor is about N700,000. After tax and other deductions, it comes down to around N500,000. 

“It is difficult to afford a N10–15 million loan to replace a vehicle under these conditions,” he said. 

Sunmonu warned that if salaries are not improved, the quality of Nigeria’s universities could decline drastically within five to ten years. 

Professors Balarabe Abdullahi (Ahmadu Bello University) and Samuel Agu (Abia State University) also decried meagre salaries that force them into side hustles, including selling groceries, adjunct work, or business ventures, loan opportunities recently shared by FG that youths, academics, others can put in for.

ASUU demands a review, lamenting that professors suffer under the current economy. 

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) reported that economic hardship and poor remuneration have contributed to deaths among academics. 

In Abuja alone, 46 members were lost in 2024 due to illness exacerbated by poor working conditions. 

“Professors are the custodians of knowledge, yet many live in near-poverty,” Prof Abdullahi said. 

He added: “Some have gone days without cooking a proper meal for their families. This is why migration among academics is rising sharply.” 

Hassan Soweto, national coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, criticised the disparity between politicians’ earnings and academic pay, Leadership reported.

“It is illogical that a senator earns more than a professor. Politics should be about public service, not a profession that pays more than education. Unless this anomaly is corrected, the dignity of education in Nigeria will remain undermined,” he said. 

Data shows Nigerian professors are paid far less than peers in other African nations. 

In South Africa, senior professors earn up to N89.4 million annually; in Morocco, N63.3 million; in Kenya, up to N4.3 million monthly; and in Niger, over N24 million annually. 

ASUU President Prof. Chris Piwuna lamented that key elements of the 2009 agreement on university autonomy, funding, and staff welfare remain unimplemented. 

“Even after the 25–35 percent wage increase, a professor earns less than N500,000. Our members are restless. The honeymoon with government is over,” he said. 

Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, former Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, urged a national conference to address salaries, funding, and systemic challenges in higher education. 

 Previously, Legit.ng reported that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has taken a significant step against the federal government, implementing a no-pay-no-work policy in response to the ongoing delay in the payment of salaries for its members.

This action follows a prolonged issue of delayed payments, which ASUU argues is part of the government’s ongoing attempt to frustrate its members. 

Source: Legit.ng