… Lament Embargo On Employment
The Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale; the Dean, Faculty of Science of the university, Prof. Adekunle Bakare, and some other lecturers have said the exodus of lecturers from Nigerian universities to seek greener pastures abroad is putting the future of universities in jeopardy.
They said despite the mass retirement of experienced and young lecturers, universities could not employ new hands to replace them because of an embargo of government policy.
They spoke on Monday evening at the valedictory lecture in honour of a renowned Professor of Organometallic and Coordination Chemistry, Timothy Odiaka, on his retirement from the University of Ibadan, having clocked 70 years.
They all showered encomiums on Odiaka, who they said retired from the UI after serving for 41 years and five months and had produced many great scholars and others who are currently doing well in many areas.
The vice chancellor said the government’s embargo on employment in the civil service and extended to universities had caused many problems.
He said, “The unfortunate aspect that we experience in the university was when there was an embargo on employment, and it was extended to universities. They thought universities were like the civil service, and that caused a lot of problems.
“The older ones who are supposed to mentor the young ones are leaving the system, the younger ones who are expected to be mentored are not available they are leaving with all their experiences and it’s like we are burning our candle from both sides and that is very unfortunate.”
He said he eventually got approval for the university to employ 600 workers and said the recruitment would begin soon.
The Dean of the Faculty of Science said the impact of the exodus of the best brains from the country had not been felt yet despite what was being experienced. He said the situation would be terrible in the near future if nothing urgent was done to reverse the trend.
