Peter Obi, who ran for president for the Labour Party in the last election, is very worried about how expensive it is to run the government in Nigeria. He pointed out that a person with a PhD would have to save money for many years to buy the N160 million SUVs that lawmakers drive.
Obi shared his thoughts in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, saying that the government’s careless spending is part of why our university education is getting worse.
He said that a Grade 2 lecturer earns around N150,000 every month, but a typical lawmaker earns about N21 million monthly. This shows a big difference between how the government values education versus its own expenses.
“A recent news story from the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) talked about how our university education standards are dropping.
“According to the Executive Secretary, to fix this we need more PhD holders. But he forgot to mention other problems, like how long it takes to get a PhD in Nigeria and the big difference in pay between different jobs.
“If someone is lucky, they might get a job as a Lecturer Grade 2 and make N150,000 a month, not always on time, which adds up to N1.8 million a year.
“On the other hand, our lawmakers, who only need a high school certificate, earn N21 million a month. That’s more than what a PhD holder makes in 10 years.
“This big difference is the root of the problem. Plus, lawmakers get SUVs worth N160 million paid for by public money. A PhD holder would need to save every kobo they earn for over 85 years to buy one,” he said.
Government Should Spend More on Education
Obi believes the government should spend more on education instead of its own costs.
He thinks that investing in education will help people value knowledge and skills more than political positions and power.
Obi also said that this change is needed to make Nigeria’s education system respected worldwide again.
“The answer is to move our society from spending mindlessly to becoming productive, where hard work, new ideas, and talent are appreciated,” he said.
“By spending more on education and new ideas, we can create a system that values knowledge, skills, and dedication, not just political roles and power,” Obi added.
Things to Know
People have been asking the government to cut down on its costs.
Many are upset about the President’s expensive foreign trips. For example, Newslodge reported that President Tinubu spent billions traveling abroad, while the country faces high inflation and living costs.
In response, the President approved the Oronsaye Report, which aims to reduce the number of government agencies and cut costs.
But it’s still unclear if these steps will actually be put into action.