The VC said 70 per cent of lecturers were assistant lecturers

The Vice Chancellor of Plateau State University, Bokkos, Nenfort Gomwalk, has lamented the shortage of qualified lecturers in Nigerian universities.

Mr. Gomwalk said this in an interview on Friday in Jos.

He described the situation “as so terrible” adding that 70 per cent of the lecturers in the nation’s universities were assistant lecturers.

“The fact of the matter is that several Nigerian universities have dearth of PhD holders as lecturers. Most of the lecturers in the nation’s Ivory towers are Masters Degree holders and some of them have spent years pursuing their PhD degrees without success.

“I am aware that some of the Masters Degree holders have spent 10 to 15 years pursuing their doctorate degrees,” he said.

The university head noted that the country had no fewer than 150 universities all competing to recruit competent and qualified lecturers from the few available hands.

He said that the situation would worsen with the establishment of nine new universities by the Federal government, and the establishment of more state universities across the country.

The Vice Chancellor called on universities to evolve plans to assist in producing more PhD holders through fellowships with universities in other countries. He said a British university had offered to train 10 lecturers of Plateau University to acquire PhD degrees.

He appealed to universities to make concerted efforts to assist their lecturers to acquire PhD degrees as soon as possible, to enable them to contribute their quota to national development.

Mr. Gomwalk also urged the Plateau Government to grant permission to the university to recruit additional lecturers adding that the 40 lecturers earlier recruited were short of the required by the university.

NAN