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Due to a high number of retirements at Nigerian universities and the exodus of thousands of lecturers seeking better opportunities abroad, the country's universities are facing a severe staffing shortage.
In separate interviews, the Academic Staff Union of Universities branches confirmed this and added that the surge in lecturers leaving Nigeria and the worries surrounding the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System were the causes of the shortage.
The union at the Federal University of Gusau, Zamfara, revealed that the school needed about 1,000 lecturers to fill the vacancies left by those who had left. ASUU at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, reported that about 100 lecturers had left the university.
Around 350 academic positions were open at the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta, Ogun State, according to the union there. Meanwhile, 27 lecturers had left two faculties at the University of Lagos, and 100 employees at the University of Uyo had left the country.
The Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology was losing both academic and non-academic staff, according to the union, and there were approximately 500 academic openings at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State.
Many of the university's employees, both academic and non-academic, have left, according to Dr. Rotimi Olorunsola, Chairman of the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology in Okitipupa, Ondo State.
The president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, says it is only good governance by the political class at all levels that can prevent lecturers, just like other professionals, from moving out of the country for greener pastures.
He said if the situation at home is friendly, with people having confidence in the system, many will definitely prefer to stay back in the country.
