ABU Vice-Chancellor Advocates for Full Implementation of Retirement Benefits for Professors

The Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Prof. Kabiru Bala, has called upon unions and key stakeholders in the education sector to advocate for the complete implementation of retirement benefits for professors. Prof. Bala made this appeal during the university's fourth inaugural lecture series, which was titled "The Political Benefits of Public Employee Benefits in Nigeria: The Proletarianization of the Elite."

Prof. Bala highlighted that there are legal provisions ensuring that professors who have served for 20 years are entitled to retire with full salary and benefits. However, these provisions have not been fully implemented. "I don’t know whether our unions are aware of this problem, because it has not been implemented," he stated.

He emphasized the urgency of addressing this issue, noting that many of his colleagues at the university were not receiving the benefits they are legally entitled to. He urged unions and stakeholders to take action to rectify this situation.


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The lecture also featured comments from Prof. Nasiru Musa-Yauri, Vice-Chancellor of Al-Qalam University, Katsina. He recounted that previously, any professor retiring from a university would receive their full salary, regardless of the length of time they held the rank. This policy was revised during negotiations between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, changing the requirement to ten years of service as a professor to qualify for full retirement benefits.

The presenter of the lecture, Prof. Isa Abbas, provided an analysis of the political and economic implications of public employee benefits in Nigeria. He argued that the failure of the government and institutions to provide adequate benefits to employees has contributed to social issues such as violence, insurgency, and terrorism. "Public employees are frustrated due to the lack of adequate benefits and incentives for the services rendered," he said.

Prof. Abbas elaborated that the lack of adequate benefits has led to the proletarianization of middle-class elites, including intellectuals, professionals, and industrialists, reducing them to a state of dependency on salaries. This situation has adversely affected service delivery across various sectors.


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He urged the government to stabilize institutions and ensure that employees receive adequate benefits to foster better service delivery and mitigate social unrest.

Prof. Bala concluded the event by congratulating Prof. Isa Abbas and the Faculty of Social Sciences for their contributions through the lecture series.