By: Favour Ogundare

It is impossible to walk through the University of Ibadan without noticing the hands that sanitize its environment. Despite playing a significant role in maintaining the environmental hygiene of the University, sanitation workers at the University of Ibadan have been subjected to inhumane treatment marked by poor remuneration and, at times, unpaid wages.

Their wages, which range between ₦12,000 and ₦15,000, is a clear dismissal of human dignity, especially when compared to what their counterparts earn in the developed Universities. For instance, a sanitation worker at Harvard University earns about €3,600, which is approximately equivalent to ₦6 million in Nigerian currency. Even in some Universities in Ghana, a country situated in Africa, cleaners earn between ₦175,000 and ₦219,000, echoing a  ridiculous disparity.

Despite their indispensable role in sanitizing the university’s living and learning environments, these workers are poorly remunerated with some often unpaid. More concerning is that this unfair treatment manifests in a university that prides itself as a citadel of learning. But what kind of learning condones such exploitation?

The outsourcing of Sanitation has become an institutional precedent across public tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Rather than employing cleaners directly and including them in their payroll system, some Nigerian Universities award contracts to private firms, who in turn exploit these workers by paying them meager wages while benefiting immense and unjust profits. More ridiculous is the fact that these cleaners earn below the national minimum wage. Meanwhile, sanitation workers in some secondary schools earn salaries aligned with this legal standard.

In April 2025, some of these cleaners who sanitize the environment of the 76-year-old tertiary institution shared their ordeals in separate interviews with IndyPress. Some spoke of climbing to the top floors of university’s hostels to fetch water and clean deplorable restrooms. Some lamented earning between ₦12,000 and ₦15,000, and sometimes receiving nothing at all for months. Some are burdened with parental responsibilities ranging from paying school fees to feeding and clothing their kids. Some are in their old age. Some even decried that their monthly wages do not cover their transaction expenses.

Worse still, some of these poorly paid workers are unpaid. For example, during the third ordinary sitting of the University of Ibadan Students’ Representative Council(12th Assembly), an Honorable member raised the subject that some sanitation workers in his hall, Alexander Brown Hall of Residence, decried their unpaid wages. In response, the Students’ Union President, Covenant Odedele, clarified that the sanitation workers are not on the university’s payroll, as they are paid by contractors. However, it is worth noting that outsourcing these workers from the university’s payroll is a gross injustice. Regardless of their job description, they are equally significant to the university community. Without them, the university would become an unsanitary space, toxic to both student and staff welfare.

Regardless of their job descriptions, every worker at the university plays a role. Lecturers impart knowledge on students and are paid for it. Non-teaching staff, including hall porters, oversee students’ welfare in hostels. Security operatives ensure safety on campus. Sanitation workers, too, play a vital role in sanitizing the University’s environment to make it health-friendly. Yet, they are treated as invisible.

It is unjust that these sanitation workers are excluded from the University’s payroll system. It is equally unfair that they are not part of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities. Their role is no less significant than any other.

It is pertinent that Students, staff, and advocates of social justice at University of Ibadan stand in solidarity with this community as its absence, without any iota of doubt, will expose our health and well-being to an inevitable detriment. It is on this very note that these cleaners, regardless of their job description, deserve wages that appreciate the value of their labor.

It is therefore high time the University of Ibadan absorbed these sanitation workers into its payroll system. Doing so would shield them from exploitation by their contractors. At the very least, their wages should meet the national minimum wage of #70000, which  some secondary school cleaners are already receiving. Those who have been long unpaid must be compensated promptly. It is worth establishing that these cleaners should not only be well remunerated but be part of the Nigerian Non-academic Staff Union of Universities so that they have a platform to voice out their concerns. It is only fair that the management of the University of Ibadan treat these cleaners with the fair treatment they deserve.