WHEN A CLEANER EARNS MORE THAN A PHD HOLDER: THE NIGERIAN EDUCATION SCAM

Introduction

In Nigeria today, it has become painfully evident that education no longer pays. The irony is loud and clear: a person who has laboured through the grueling academic ladder – first degree, Master’s, and PhD – often finds themselves poorer than someone who sweeps office floors in other African countries. Across Africa and beyond, janitors and cleaners are treated with greater financial dignity than Nigerian scholars.

This is not to smear the reputation of the janitors, or ridicule the honest cleaners; rather, it is to highlight the shameful undervaluing of academic excellence in Nigeria. When a PhD holder lives in debt, and a cleaner in South Africa, Kenya, or Ghana lives in dignity, something is tragically wrong with our system. It reveals, in the very depth, the misplacement of priorities in the country, and the endemic corruption that continues to perforate the socio-economic fabric of the Nigerian state.

 Table  1 and 2 below reveal frighteningly the disparities in salaries of Lecturer II PhD teachers across ten African countries, Nigeria inclusive, and the salaries of cleaners in these countries, compared with the salaries of Nigerian Lecturer II PhD teachers. 

Table 1: Monthly Salaries of PhD Lecturers in African Countries (Lecturer II)

Country	Monthly Salary (Local Currency)	Equivalent in NGN (₦)	Notes
South Africa	R15,689	₦1,875,000	Average lecturer salary
Morocco	MAD 13,000	₦1,800,000	Starting salary for PhD professors
Kenya	KSh 99,409 – 140,683	₦1,200,000	University of Nairobi lecturers
Ghana	GHS 3,500 – 10,600	₦1,000,000	Range for university lecturers
Egypt	EGP 12,000	₦900,000	Average lecturer salary in Cairo
Algeria	DZD 63,000 – 82,000	₦820,000	Entry-level PhD holder salary
Ethiopia	ETB 11,305	₦800,000	Lecturer salary in Addis Ababa
Nigeria	₦150,000 – ₦190,000	₦150,000 – ₦190,000	Lecturer II in Colleges of Education

 

Table 2: Monthly Salaries of Cleaners in Other Countries vs Nigerian PhD Lecturer II

Country	Cleaner Monthly Salary (Local Currency)	Equivalent in NGN (₦)	Reference	PhD Lecturer II (Nigeria)
South Africa	R6,500	₦778,000	Indeed South Africa	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Kenya	KSh 30,000	₦362,000	Payscale Kenya	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Ghana	GHS 2,000	₦350,000	MyWage Ghana	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Morocco	MAD 3,000	₦415,000	ERI Morocco	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Algeria	DZD 32,000	₦420,000	World Salaries Algeria	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Egypt	EGP 5,000	₦375,000	Glassdoor Egypt	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Ethiopia	ETB 5,500	₦390,000	MyWage Ethiopia	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Namibia	NAD 4,500	₦540,000	World Salaries Namibia	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Botswana	BWP 3,000	₦480,000	MyWage Botswana	₦150,000 – ₦190,000
Nigeria	₦35,000	₦35,000	MySalaryScale Nigeria	₦150,000 – ₦190,000

The Broken Dream: A PhD in Debt and Despair

Let us meet Dr. James Okoro – fictitious, but all too real. He’s a PhD holder lecturing at a federal College of Education in Nigeria. His monthly take-home pay is ₦187,000. Yet his basic expenses are:

• Rent (urban area):          ₦13,000
• Feeding (family of 4):    ₦80,000
• Transport:                       ₦20,000
• Electricity/Data:             ₦15,000
• Children’s School Fees: ₦30,000
• Emergencies/Health:      ₦30,000
• Wears:                            ₦30,000

Total: ₦218,000
Deficit: ₦31,000

So how does he cope? Sadly, by turning on his students financially.

 When Hunger Breeds Corruption in the Academia

A lecturer who is underpaid becomes vulnerable. To survive, some lecturers begin to:

ü  demand money for grades.

ü  write research ventures for money.

ü  sell handouts or “compulsory” materials.

ü  neglect academic integrity, provided money is involved.

ü  exploit female students sexually or financially.

This is not because they are inherently corrupt – it is because the system sets them up to survive by any means necessary. And this spills into national corruption, because education is the foundation of values. If the classroom is compromised, the entire nation will rot from the roots.

 Wake Up, Nigeria!

When cleaners earn more than PhD holders, the message is loud and clear: education is a scam in Nigeria.

 Why should anyone invest years into academic pursuit, when pushing a mop in Morocco pays more? Why should a brilliant Nigerian scholar not relocate to Namibia, Kenya, or South Africa, where they will be respected – and compensated?

 Nigeria is at the risk of mass academic exodus, not just to Europe, but to other African countries.

 Education Is Sacred, But Nigeria Is Mocking It

If we continue on this path, the next generation will choose manual labour over mental labour, hustle over higher learning, and crime over curriculum.

 A country that punishes its thinkers and rewards mediocrity is a country already failed.

 Conclusion

Let the Nigerian government, policymakers, and society rethink their values. Reward intellectual labour. Pay our lecturers. Restore dignity to education, before the last candle of learning dies out. 

We can tweet in the social media, to save our lecturers and education system, thus: #EducationCrisis, #FixNigeriaNow, #SupportOurLecturers, #BrainDrainWarning, and so on!