By: First and ‘Best’

In any academic institution, both teaching and non-teaching staff are essential to its functionality. While lecturers are celebrated for imparting knowledge, non-academic staff, especially sanitation workers, play a vital yet overlooked role in maintaining the university’s physical environment.

Cleanliness is the foundation of a conducive learning space. Yet, those who ensure this, commonly referred to as cleaners, are rarely seen, acknowledged, or fairly compensated. Their wages are alarmingly low when compared with their counterparts in other parts of the world.

At Oxford University in London, for instance, cleaners reportedly earn about €34,000 annually. Equivalent to roughly ₦62 million. Still, even those wages have been criticized as “undignified and unlivable” by a Financial Times report published in May 2021.

In Nigeria, however, the situation is starkly worse. At the University of Ibadan, cleaners are not only underpaid but also outsourced. A so-called cost-saving tactic that leaves many vulnerable and voiceless.

Some of these cleaners, who spoke with IndyPress, revealed they earn between ₦12,000 and ₦15,000 monthly. A sum that falls far below Nigeria’s current national minimum wage of ₦70,000. Frustrated and burdened, they have called on the university administration to review and improve their compensation, pleading for what they described as a “deserving wage.”

“My Salary Can’t Even Cover My Transport Fare” – Sabitu Aliya, a Sexagenarian’s Lament

Since 2015, Sabitu Aliya has been commuting daily from Oje, Ibadan, to the University of Ibadan, where she works as a cleaner. A sexagenarian, grandmother, and mother. She endures grueling work for a wage that fails to meet even her basic needs.

By 8 a.m. each morning, Mrs. Sabitu arrives at the Great Independence Hall of Residence to sweep walkways, scrub bathrooms, and sanitize toilets. She works tirelessly until 2 p.m., six days a week. Yet, her monthly wage, now ₦13,000, has barely increased from the ₦10,000 she earned when she began ten years ago.

Her daily transport alone costs ₦800, that is ₦24,000 monthly, nearly twice her salary. Even more troubling is the informality of her employment. She is paid in cash by a supervisor, with no contract, pension, or benefits. Just uncertainty.

“We beg the UI management to increase our wages,” she told IndyPress.

“Our salary is so small it cannot even cover transportation. I only do this to avoid staying idle at home,” she added.

“We Are Really Suffering” – Mrs. Abigail, a Septuagenarian Speaks Out

Mrs. Abigail, a septuagenarian who began working at UI in 2010, shares a similar struggle. Commuting from Ajibode Extension, she is tasked with cleaning two floors and surrounding areas daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In 2010, she earned ₦3,000, which was as at then enough to get by. Today, she earns ₦15,000, which no longer meet her needs.

Like Mrs. Sabitu, she receives her salary in cash through a supervisor, and not directly from the university. She describes this arrangement as deeply exploitative.

“We are really suffering. Despite our strenuous labour of keeping the University clean, we are often neglected and unappreciated. Our salary is so small, it can’t meet many of our needs, she said.

Mrs. Abigail emphasized the importance of recognizing the dignity of labour and called on university authorities to treat cleaners with fairness and humanity.

“I Don’t Know Where My Salary Comes From” – Iya Mujeeb

Another cleaner, Iya Mujeeb, said she has no idea who exactly pays her salary. Since joining the workforce in 2018, her wage, ₦15,000, has barely sustained her.

Assigned to clean two upper floors at the Great Independence Hall, she faces additional challenges. There is no running water, so she has to fetch water from downstairs. She also decried the poor hygiene of student residents, some of whom she claims defecate in the bathrooms.

“We don’t know where our salary comes from,” she said. “₦15,000 is not enough to take care of myself, let alone my children. The students should also learn to use the toilets responsibly,” she told IndyPress.

Despite the harsh conditions, she remains in the job out of necessity.

The plight of these cleaners at the University of Ibadan paints a distressing picture of neglect and systemic injustice. Earning ₦15,000, far below the legal minimum wage, is not only unfair but a clear dismissal of their humanity.

Regardless of job description, every worker deserves dignity, fair treatment, and adequate compensation.

Images Credit: OyoNews, IndyPress shots.

EDITOR’S WARNING: Names of characters have been changed because of the University of Ibadan intolerance to dissent and freedom of expression.