A senior lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) has expressed deep frustration over what he described as the “insult” of his monthly salary after being denied a bank loan due to his low earnings.
The lecturer, who has spent over a decade teaching at the Federal University, recounted his experience at First Bank, Choba branch, where he had approached his account officer to request a loan of ₦5 million. According to him, the request was turned down after the bank assessed his salary record.
“She told me my salary couldn’t carry that amount,” he said. “After checking her computer, she told me I earn ₦191,000 monthly and that I could only be given about ₦1 million repayable within three years. I told her I needed ₦5 million to equip my Public Speaking Academy and buy gadgets for my social media work, but she said, ‘Sorry sir, your salary cannot carry it.’”
The lecturer, who holds a PhD, said he left the bank disheartened and depressed, questioning why a federal university staff with over ten years of service should earn so little.
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He further compared his earnings to those of colleagues in other institutions, claiming that lecturers at Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Bori Polytechnic, and Rivers State University reportedly receive between ₦230,000 and ₦250,000 monthly—still modest, but higher than UNIPORT’s ₦191,000.
“In this Tinubu’s economy, ₦230,000 to ₦250,000 is already peanuts, yet we earn even less,” he lamented. “By the time I become a professor, my salary might only be ₦440,000—or even ₦380,000 as some new professors claim.”
The lecturer’s outcry adds to growing concerns over the poor remuneration of academic staff in Nigerian universities, a challenge that continues to dampen morale across the country’s tertiary education sector.
