When Brilliance Is Undervalued: Why the Nigerian Government Must Revisit Teachers’ Take-Home Pay
By Paul Adebanjo Education in Nigeria is under siege, not from lack of talent or ambition, but from the very system meant to nurture it. Teachers, who mold the minds of tomorrow’s leaders, engineers, doctors, and innovators, are paid wages so meager that they scarcely reflect the gravity of their contribution to society. While senators enjoy monthly allowances that exceed ₦21 million, a professor’s salary lingers below ₦600,000. This stark imbalance is more than an economic discrepancy; it is a moral indictment—a signal that the nation undervalues the very people responsible for shaping its future. In February 2025, the controversy surrounding a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, who physically assaulted a lecturer during a dispute over a TikTok video, further underscored this crisis. The incident, which led to the student’s expulsion, revealed a troubling reality: in today’s Nigeria, intellect and scholarship are often overshadowed by social clout and ent...