Professors Should Pay Universities From Grants, Not Universities Paying Professors ------- Prof Augustine Akubue

A professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at the British Western Indies, Augustine Uchenna Akubue has said that universities should be paid by professors from grants instead of being paid by universities. 

"No professor in civilized world is paid by the university, they rather pay university from grants," Akubue, also an Adjunct Professor at the American University, Curacao, Netherlands, said.

He spoke while delivering a lecture during the 2026 Convention of Nsukka Journalists' Convention titled, "Unlocking Nsukka's Potentials: The Imperative of Political Leadership, Strategic Investment for Inclusive and Sustainable Development," at the Jerry Marriot Hotel, Nsukka, on Thursday.

Akubue regretted that "Professors now resort to opening WhatsApp groups to source fund to hold their inaugural lectures instead of using their research to unlock a catalyst of wealth. 

"These are paradoxical to economic progress. Our bane is paying researchers in university instead of attraction of grants. No professor in civilized world is paid by the university, they rather pay university from grants. 

"If you are not a millionaire, you can't make one. No wonder many seek further education as means of livelihood in Nsukka and not as a pathway to wealth creation."

Full text of the lecture:  "I thank Nsukka Journalists' Forum, NJF,  for this honour. This theme is not about long speeches coated in high-sounding grammatical vituperations. This is a cry and a clarion call to address our daily pain as Nsukka people.

"Let me start with a story we all know. A father has six children and the biggest yam barn in the village. Yet every evening his children go to the neighbour to beg for food to eat. The barn is full, but the father has lost the key. That father is Nsukka!

Introduction

"Nsukka cultural zone consists of six local government areas, namely Nsukka, Igbo-Eze North, Igbo-Eze South, Udenu, Igbo-Etiti and Uzo-Uwani. In the 2006 national census, we were about 1.2 million in population, but today, we are close to two million. We are the biggest zone in Enugu State. We have the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, since 1960, the first university in Nigeria. Our land, spanning from Adani to Obollo-Afor, can feed us, yet we are poor. How can a man sleep on top of water and still say that he is thirsty?

When I went to Ogige Market at 5 am, I saw our children, our young men who finished university, pushing commercial motorcycles; okada. I witnessed our young girls who should be productive and actively engaged, but are sitting under tattered umbrella and selling pure water. I saw old women carrying cassava on their head under scorching sun. I almost cried. This is not what God gave us. This is what we did to ourselves.

Our Potentials

As Franklin Roosevelt said, the test of progress is not whether we add more to those who have much, but whether we provide enough for those who have little. By that test, Nsukka has failed.

You unlock something. This means that we are locked down. We are intelligent, resourceful and resilient yet we are locked in poverty. What a shame!

We have the potentials but we have not unleashed it. We have refused to become what we ought to be. This is a debt we owe our children. The political leadership in Nsukka ought to provide the pathway to realize our potentials. Sadly, over the years, political leadership in our land has been for just show of long vehicle convoys, for titles and for intimidation. Political positions are not mere titles, they are responsibilities that we have to the people.

We have UNN, which will be 66 years old next week. Because of UNN, Nsukka is placed on the national and global map, and our people have access to university education. Ironically, we produce certificates faster than we produce jobs. The young man who rides commercial motor cycles in Ogige market, is probably a university graduate. This is painful. While the university established Lion Science Park in 2018, Lion Rice and laptop assembly but they are still islands of economic trials. We must unleash the full potential on that university in our midsts. We must convert the intellectual resources, researches and human capital of the university to tangible economic production hub that will produces jobs for our people.

Education that does not translate to concrete development is a mere economic exercise. Aku in Igbo-Etiti LGA, has number of professors that is almost twice the rest of Enugu State yet it has not translated to development; no good road goes to Aku, village are in darkness and there no serious economic activities. If professors cannot bring development to their own homes, what do we call progress? ...

Africa's Universities Must Stop Producing Degree Holders and Start Producing Builders. This is thrust of a trending article. UNESCO says 75 percent of Africans are under 35. So every year, 11 million young people enter the labour market, 40 percent out of these, have no skill. The international labour organisation (ILO) says that 70.9 million young Africans in 2025 are doing nothing; no school, no work, no training.

Let me bring it home to Nsukka. If we are two million people today, and 75 percent are under 35 years, it means that means 1.5 million young people. It also means that three out of every four persons you see in Ogige, Obollo-Afor, Adani and other towns in Nsukka cultural zone is a youth.

If 40 percent of them are thrown into job market without skills, that is 600,000 young people. Almost the entire population of Nsukka LGA alone; more than Udenu and Igbo-Etiti combined. What does 600,000 mean? It means population pressure with no work to absorb them. It means quality-jobs crisis, not because they are lazy, but because school gave certificate without skill. It means security risk, because when 600,000 have no work, some will ride okada and remain poor, some will relocate to Lagos and abroad, some will become available for politicians to use for thuggery as election comes. It means economic loss, because if 600,000 could earn just 50,000 naira a month from processing, trading, tech, that is 30 billion naira every month staying in Nsukka, 360 billion naira a year. That is the money we lose today because we did not train builders.

The Challenges

Our universities still teach students to pass exam, not to solve problem. A student can have First Class in Agriculture and has never planted tomato. Our education is now useless for this century. We are using 19th century model to prepare children for 22nd century needs. It is like using post office to deliver letter when email is already there. Certificate we pursue no longer pays rent. I am happy that an illustrious son of Nsukka land, Chief Maduka Onyishi, is moving to education, because he will inject entrepreneurship into curriculum. That is what we need.

Market has changed. It no longer pays you for what you know. Google knows more than you. ChatGPT and other softwares can write thesis in 40 minutes. Soon or later, Robotics and AI will make us all useless. It pays you for what you can build with what you know. A degree holder asks, who will employ me? A builder asks, what problem will I solve?

My people, Nsukka has 150 hotels and no factory because degree holders build hotel to collect rent. Builders build factory to create work. We must now produce builders. Our students of agriculture must farm 100 hectares before graduation. Engineering must build processing machines. Food Science must produce packaged products and value additions.

God gave us yam from Okpuje, cassava from Obukpa, rice from Adani, cashew from Udenu, Ose Nsukka pepper that government itself now wants to export. Our problem is not growing. Our problem is we sell raw. We sell raw yam at Ogige for small money and Lagos sells flour for big money. We sell raw cashew and buy it back roasted. The lorry carries our wealth away.

Obollo-Afor is where the North meets the South. Agricultural produce and other goods pass through there. It should have modern storage, cold chain, price board that protects farmer. Today it has none of these. Why?

Look at Enugu-Ezike. They have taken commerce seriously. I was impressed when I counted Romchi Energy and Gas stations scattered in every city in Enugu, but very little in Nsukka itself. Enugu-Ezike son understood that every business is business provided it is lawful. He did not wait for government. He started filling station, he multiplied. Patience is key, strategy is key, support is key. That is what we must teach our youths. Not every youth must do yahoo. Every lawful business is business.

Ogige, the main market in Nsukka has been demolished without an alternative plan. This is disruptive to our economic progress. Over 40 percent of our locals depend on it for their daily livelihoods. Today, Ogige market stand in ruins, rendering more of our people jobless. When 600,000 youths are already stranded, and you demolish the only market where they and their parents get money to eat, pay rent and schools fees, what do you expect them to do? 

Unlocking our Potentials Through Impactful Leadership

Strategic investment is not scattering small projects everywhere to deceive people. It is putting money where it will bring more money and jobs. When you invest on the boys repairing phone, POS, content creation, they become budding enterprises. Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NSCCIMA) said N1 billion fund can support 1,200 to 1,500 businesses and create 3,500 jobs in first year. That is hope.

Everything rises and falls on leadership. We celebrate political wealth instead of enterprise wealth. We clap for people who was in office two years and built three houses. We don't clap for cassava woman who employs 20. So our children think that the road to wealth is politics, not production. When society rewards wealth without work, it trains young to seek wealth without work.

A politician thinks of next election, a statesman thinks of next generation. This explains why they neglect us for years but only to flood us with numerous appointments nearer to election as people without critical thought. We are wiser now and must be fair in our judgments.

What must leadership give us? Vision that remains after you leave office. Fair budget that we can see. Strong institutions like Chamber of Commerce, town unions, NJF. And security that comes from giving young man work.

But leadership is not only those in office. It is us who stay away. Bertolt Brecht said, the worst illiterate is the political illiterate. He does not hear, does not speak, does not participate. He does not know that price of beans, fish, flour, rent, shoes, and medicine, all depend on political decisions. If we who know, stay silent, we hand the key to those who know nothing.

Exclusion from power and politics is exclusion of benefits accrued from power. That is the truth we must not forget. If you are not on the table, you are on the menu. I therefore advise all to be active, secure your social weapon called PVC ready for action in few months.

We need agro clusters; rice and grains in Uzo-Uwani, yam and cassava around Nsukka, cashew and logistics at Obollo-Afor, and storage, drying, processing under one roof. A full integrated approach from farm to factory and marketing.

Town and gown must marry. UNN Food Science should produce packaged food we eat. Agriculture should run mechanised farm. Engineering should assemble solar. We should make Lion Science Park front door for Nsukka investors. We need roads, power, feeder roads to farms, and reliable power for industrial cluster.

We need enterprise financing. The N1 billion Enterprise Fund proposed by NSCCIMA, held in trust, everyone sees account.

Diaspora vehicle is a huge potential. If 100,000 people bring $1,000 each, that is $100,000. This is enough to start small processing plant with shared ownership. Our people in the Diaspora, please avoid building big houses worth millions which you and your family will never occupy, focus on investing your earnings to create wealth. If you fail, be rest assured that sooner or later, all of us will be victims of youth anger. As JP Clark said, all of us are casualties, even those who ran away are more affected by psychological damages of war.

Your Excellency, your 260 ward Farm Estates and 300,000-hectare land bank are right foundations. Our appeal is; let Nsukka wards be among first to start and let them incorporate processing, value addition and packaging.

Role of NJF

Now let me talk to you, NJF. Your name is your assignment. Conscience of the People.

This is not just a statement for your letterhead. It is not a mere description. If conscience sleeps, people suffer. If conscience is bought, people bleed.

The Press is not an appendage of government. Press is not praise singers. Press is not for those who give you envelope at events. Press exists to tell truth even when it is dangerous to do so. Thomas Jefferson said press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man. Today I beg you to return to that mandate. Enlighten the people, not deceive them.

Election is around the corner. The drums have started again. Same faces will come to Ogige with rice. Same voices will climb village squares with promises written on wind. They will share two thousand naira and call it empowerment. They will promise roads they will never walk.

NJF must not clap for them. NJF must question them.

Hold every office holder accountable. Hold every seeker of office accountable. Ask the questions others fear to ask. For example; what have you done before you came to seek this office? Not what you promised, what did you build? Where is it? Is it working today or abandoned? You were Assembly member for four years, what bill did you sponsor for Nsukka? You were Local Government Chairman, how many kilometres of farm road did you open? How many jobs did you create that still exist? You were Commissioner, what investment did you attract to Nsukka? Where is your scorecard?

You now want to be Senator, you want to be House of Reps, you want to be Governor. What is your road map? Not slogan, road map. Show us your written plan for Nsukka youth employment. Show us your plan for Adani rice processing. Show us your plan for Obollo-Afor storage and power. Show us your plan for our women who process pepper and cassava. If you have no plan, you have no right to ask for our vote.

NJF must teach our people that vote is not for sale. A vote sold for two thousand naira is hunger bought for four years. Our people are hungry, but selling vote makes hunger remain. Nsukka has been too polite for too long. We praise those who give us nothing. We give front seats to those who created no jobs, while the woman who employs twenty young people in her small garri factory sits at back, or is not invited at all.

Change that. From this convention, let front seat go to builders. Let entrepreneur who employs our sons and daughters, sit where people can see him. Let our children see who truly deserves to be honoured.

Your role is to be watchdog. Go to Ogige and ask why the drainage has not been fixed. Go to local governments and ask them to publish allocations. Go to abandoned projects and photograph them. Ask questions with documents, not rumour. Use Freedom of Information. Use town halls where leaders render account.

Your role is to be agenda setter. Do not report only that Governor visited. Set agenda. Every week set one agendum. Report how much yam was left in Obollo-Afor to rot and what we lost because we did not process them. Report how many graduates are still riding okada instaed of gainfully employed in career paths.

Your role is to be bridge builders. Amplify the works of the professor who has new rice variety to farmers in Uzo-Uwani, the Engineer who built solar dryer to women who dries pepper at Nkwo Ibagwa. 

Your role is to be unifier. Refuse to be used to divide this zone into Nsukka against Igbo-Eze, Udenu against Igbo-Etiti. Nsukka is one. And your role is to stay neutral only to truth, never to injustice. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

That is why I propose NJF Nsukka Tracker. Not to abuse anyone but to score, not just to praise. For every office holder since 1999 to today, publish what they met, what they did, where it is now. Provide the evidence and give every person the right of reply before publication. That is responsible journalism.

Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter. That is African proverb. You are the lion. Learn to write. Teach the lion to write. If you do this, you will be abused. You will be called enemies and you will be threatened. That is price of conscience. But history does not remember those who clapped when barn was empty. History remembers those who had courage to ask for the key.

NJF, people are watching you. Youths are watching you. Market women are watching you. Do not fail them. Report without fear. Report without favour. Report with evidence.

Because if conscience dies, people perish.

Conclusion

My people, what we have today is a caged Nsukka man. Our market is gone, our Nsukka is gone. We clap and speak empty grammar because highest bidder takes it all. This is not Nsukka our fathers left for us. Hon. Aka Ogbobe will reject this. Oloto will reject this. Igwe J.U. Nwodo will reject this. Opata will reject this. D.C. Ugwu will rise to react. They built with principle, not with envelope. They spoke truth even when it hurts. If we continue like this, we will lose everything.

Nsukka does not need pity. Nsukka needs a plan and partners.

Go to Enugu and see estates built with Nsukka money. Go to Adani and see rice fields while our children eat imported rice. Go to UNN and see professor publishing in London whose village still lacks light. This is not fate. It is result of choices. And these choices can change.

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and can be overcome by actions of human beings. Who do we celebrate? A kidnapper who donates in church, a killer who sells village in slavery, a man who is dubious and has done all sorts of socially unwarranted sacrilege?

Let us celebrate peace while alive. Let us celebrate founder of noodles factory in Nsukka while alive. Let us celebrate my humble self who brought institution to Aku while alive.

I call this change in our perception a socio-cultural disruptive crisis where a man who is a thief is celebrated in high places and labeled Excellencies and Honourable; they should be addressed as Dishonourables. Now our traditional institution itself lives in problems. They take people's land, they support evil and bad politics to remain as traditional leaders. I shed tears when traditional institutions are seen as appendage of government instead of as partners in social engineering.

We have brains, UNN. We have market, two million people. We have land. What remains is leadership with conscience, investment that is catalytic, and development that carries everyone along.

NJF, Conscience of the People, Stay awake!

We need every hand on deck. Select leaders with capacity, competence and vision not emotions, Let us gauge political candidates based on experience, capacity, previous and present achievements and how well they would navigate Nsukka challenges to unlock our potentials. Let Nsukka look forward to unlock our potentials by selecting purposeful leadership that will aid not only strategic investment but also creates all inclusive and sustainable development for all.

Let us switch to tech, coding and AI as tools; not okada empowerment which is obsolete. Get students with computers and skills acquisition that match 22nd century needs.

Yet another problem well seated to our development is churches, beliefs, herbalists who confuse our population with prosperity and eminent wealth without work. We must fight them together. The church must fight now to save her name.

Our schools in Nsukka should invite successful entrepreneurs to speak to students to redirect them from this useless pathway called certificates which I describe as Poverty Assurance Traps.

Our entrepreneurial skills should be broadened to companies, let us teach them how companies operate, leverages of cooperative business, and seeking opportunities where they exist. One of my colleagues from USA visited Aku while I was in UN, he said, Austin, I saw gold everywhere here, what are you doing in UN? Look deeper you will see Africa has everything.

Lastly, let us teach our children our culture, value systems; the Nwa Nsukka spirit that endured.

Love Nsukka like late Senator Okey Ezea, who promoted our name far and wide. He must be emulated because in all he did we saw in him the spirit of Nsukka man.

I enjoin everybody to be prepared to protect our vote no matter intimidation, be ready to vote and protect our votes because the right people in leadership will show us economic emancipation.

We cannot be basket of voters who determines who governs with our 56% population in the state and still not benefit from key developments. If we allow it now, it means we are either slaves or visitors in this state. Let us stand up to deliver ourselves from this self-imposed cage.

In conclusion, let us rely on our well respected legendary literary and political icons.

As Chinua Achebe warned, a man who does not know where the rain began to beat him, cannot say where he dried his body. Nsukka knows where the rain started. The time to dry our body is now.

As Kwame Nkrumah said, we face neither East nor West, we face forward.

Nsukka let us stand up to face forward before it is too late.

Thank you for your attention.