Are Nigerian Academics Beggars?

Are Nigerian Academics Now Beggars?

The Festive Season Predicament

By Charles Ejiofor, PhD

In a country once praised as the “Giant of Africa,” the Nigerian academics now walks with a bowed head, not in reflection, but in resignation. During festive periods, when laughter fills homes and families gather to celebrate, many Nigerian university lecturers are instead caught in a cycle of anxiety, embarrassment, and quiet suffering. It is an ugly irony that those who dedicate their lives to shaping the minds of future generations are themselves reduced to near destitution—especially during the times when the nation should be showing appreciation.

Festivities without Joy.

For most public sector workers in Nigeria, festive periods are times of bonuses, allowances, or at the very least, timely salaries. But for Nigerian academics, these holidays often bring delayed payments, unpaid allowances, and silence from government quarters. The result? Lecturers—PhD holders, seasoned researchers, and professionals—are forced to beg or borrow just to feed their families, send money to aged parents, or buy clothes and gifts for their children.

It is not uncommon to find a professor reaching out to friends for financial help days before a major celebration. The humiliation is made worse when their peers in other professions, even those with far less academic qualifications, are able to afford the luxuries of the season with ease.

A System that starves its Scholars

At the heart of this crisis is a broken system. Successive Nigerian governments have failed to prioritize education, especially higher education. Salaries remain stagnant despite inflation, promotions are delayed or meaningless without financial implementation, and earned allowances are owed for years. Festive periods, instead of being moments of relief, become painful reminders of the state of neglect.

While politicians enjoy generous holiday allowances and public servants in select agencies receive 13th-month bonuses or welfare packages, lecturers must wait, write reminders, or even protest for basic salaries. Many go unpaid for months following industrial actions or government policy delays, with no structured plan to mitigate the hardship caused.

The Human Cost behind every underpaid academic is a family that suffers. Children are pulled from private schools due to affordability issues, spouses pick up extra jobs, and lecturers themselves moonlight as cab drivers, consultants, or petty traders—not out of entrepreneurial passion but out of necessity to survive.

Mental health among academics is declining. Depression, stress, and burnout are becoming increasingly common, especially during holidays when societal expectations clash with economic reality. Festive periods, which are meant to be joyful, now deepen feelings of inadequacy and despair.

Begging for What Is Earned.

It is a grave injustice that academics who train the doctors, engineers, economists, and the politicians of tomorrow, must now beg to survive. They are not asking for charity; they are demanding the compensation they have earned. That this has become a national norm is a tragedy and a shame.
A nation that allows its intellectuals to become beggars is on a fast track to collapse. When the brains of a country are broken by hunger, what future can such a country expect?

What Must Be Done

1.Timely Payment of Salaries and Allowances – The government must institutionalize systems that guarantee consistent, prompt payment to academics, especially before festive periods.

2. Implementation of Reviewed Salary Structures – An overhaul of the remuneration system for academics is long overdue. Salaries must reflect the value, expertise, and dignity of the profession.

3. Provision of Welfare Packages – Just as other sectors receive holiday relief or welfare incentives, so too should academics.

4. National Reorientation – Nigeria must begin to treat education—and those who deliver it—as the backbone of national development, not as expendable burdens.

Conclusion
To reduce scholars to beggars is not only a national embarrassment but a ticking time bomb. The continuous neglect of Nigerian academics, especially during festive periods, paints a grim picture of the nation’s priorities. Until we begin to value those who teach, research, and innovate, we will continue to crawl behind as the rest of the world moves forward.

Let it be said: Nigeria’s academics are not beggars—they are patriots in chains. And it is high time the nation sets them free.

Charles Ejiofor is of the
Department of Parasitology and Entomology
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Abuja, FCT, Nigeria. Tel: +234-8028261934
 charles.ejiofor@uniabuja.edu.ng