Lagos, Nigeria | August 27, 2025
A claim that 239 first-class graduates employed as lecturers left the University of Lagos within seven years has surfaced but remains unverified, with no independent institutional records or corroborating reports supporting the figures.
The statement was attributed to the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, during a recent lecture in Lagos on the theme “Innovative Funding of Functional Education in the Digital Age.” He reportedly said the university had retained 256 first-class graduates as lecturers between 2015 and 2022, but only 17 remained in the institution’s employ by October 2023. He linked the mass departure to poor remuneration, low motivation, and unconducive working conditions.
However, while Ogundipe had previously confirmed that UNILAG employed about 100 first-class graduates during his tenure, evidence supporting the new figure of 239 departures is lacking. Available university convocation records and national higher education reports do not reflect these exact statistics.
What is documented is a broader challenge across Nigerian universities: difficulty retaining top graduates and young academics due to limited funding, federal hiring embargoes, and low pay. Recent education sector analyses show thousands of first-class graduates nationwide remain either unemployed or seek opportunities abroad.
