The President of the Senior Staff Club, University of Ibadan, Lanre Oladoyinbo, says many expatriate lecturers are wary of coming to Nigeria because of insecurity and deteriorating economy.
He said this while reminiscing on the life and times of Mr. Henry Nigel, a UK-born lecturer at the nation’s premier university.
Nigel, who first started teaching classics at UI in 1976, died in 2020 at the age of 71. He was the longest-serving UI lecturer.
Oladoyinbo said that the late expatriate came to UI after graduating from Oxford.
According to him, Nigerian public universities were able to attract many expatriates in the past because the economy was buoyant.
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“Henry left Oxford after his first degree in Saint Andrews, London and then went for his Master’s in Oxford. He chose Nigeria ahead of staying in Oxford in the United Kingdom.
“Then, in 1976, naira was at par with pounds sterling. Naira was doing better than dollar. So, why wouldn’t that attract you to come and explore?
“Now, if you give an expatriate N500,000, how much is that in pounds? Is that enough to take care of his family based in London?
“Mismanagement of our economy affected our marketability.
“Let’s move further and talk about insecurity. That is of recent, but before then, the economy really crashed our educational system.
“We couldn’t attract global participation in terms of students and staff. How many people would learn that ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) is on strike for one year and send their children to study here?
“Even within the country, how many people want to send their children to public universities now?
“In private universities, four years is four years. But in public universities, four years can be 10 years,” Sunday Punch quoted Oladoyinbo to have said.