How to Become a Lecturer in Nigeria

Are you a Nigerian undergraduate or graduate thinking about the best career choice for yourself or do you find that you enjoy teaching others what you know? Then you should consider a career as a lecturer. A lecturing career is one area many do not know how to approach because of its processes. This article will teach both a fresh graduate and a professional looking to change jobs the processes to becoming a lecturer in Nigeria.

Lecturing entails the following processes:

• Designing a course
• Developing a unique teaching style
• Teaching your ideas to students
• Receiving feedback
• Impacting young people

A lecturing career can be rewarding and satisfying as you get to mentor younger ones and make a real difference in the world. If you are thinking of starting a career in academics, read this article to serve as a guide on how to become a lecturer in Nigeria.

Who is a lecturer?

A lecturer is a professional whose responsibility is to offer lectures at a higher institution such as a University, Polytechnic, Mono-technic, or College of education. A lecturer also conducts research and leads research groups in academia.

How to become a lecturer in Nigeria

Acquire the Qualifications needed

There are qualifications required for anyone who wants to become a lecturer in any Nigerian institution. First of which is that you must be a graduate from an accredited university within or outside Nigeria. You must have graduated with a good first-degree grade in the exact course you are applying to teach. For most schools, a qualification in education may be required in order for one to become a lecturer. If you do not have any training in the Educations department, you can enroll for one such as a postgraduate diploma in Education.

Internship and Networking

Interning is a wise move to get you into the lecturing career. There are many teaching opportunities available at educational facilities that will serve as tenable work experience for you. When interning, ensure you take on research works that will up your skills and qualification. Prior to getting a lecturing job, you will have to be a member of a professional group, attend conferences, and network with other professionals in the academia. This is also the time to put yourself out there, to gain funding, scholarships, or awards that will boost your Curriculum Vitae.

Write your Curriculum Vitae or Resume

You need a very good academic Curriculum Vitae or resume to be able to get a job as a lecturer in a Nigerian university. You must include all of your achievements, knowledge, and experience in the academic field in your CV. This means that prior to this time, you must have put in work into gathering every resource needed to put together a good academic CV. Your CV must be robust, including details of your research work, awards, scholarships, memberships so that you can have an edge over other applicants.

Apply for a Lecturing job

After you have earned your master’s degree, you can now apply to various tertiary institutions. You can learn about job vacancies from those already lecturing in the school or on social media channels such as LinkedIn.

Check for requirement

Every job in the Nigerian labor market has a requirement that must be met. Before you apply for a job position, you must take out quality time to research the institution and its expectations. For most Nigerian universities, one is expected to have a Master’s degree in order to be employed as a University level Assistant Lecturer. It is only after one has earned a doctorate degree that one can then become a lecturer and then a Professor and Associate professor (depending on research/teaching experience). The highest point of a lecturer’s career is to become a professor of Emeritus which is given after retirement.

Acquire a Doctorate degree

Even after getting a job as a lecturer, you will still need to earn a doctorate degree. A doctorate degree is deemed relevant to impact top-notch knowledge in any field. You can start your post-graduate training in the institution where you are working as an Assistant Lecturer. Although it is possible to become a lecturer in Nigeria with just a master’s degree, you need a Ph.D. to make progress in the profession.

Keep developing your skills

There are some soft skills you must possess or groom in order to be successful in the lecturing profession. You should start developing these skills even before you start applying for a job in academia. These skills include:

Public speaking

As should be, a huge part of a lecturer’s work involves teaching and standing in front of students to impart knowledge in a large lecture hall. One can be intelligent but still not articulate enough or able to convey ideas and information to his or her students. This is why any aspiring lecturer must perfect his or her public lecturing skills and techniques even before landing a lecturing job.

Organizational skills

A lecturer must have good organizational skills so as to be able to keep records of students, school, and his or her research work. You can find yourself wasting a huge amount of time trying to retrieve misplaced information which will take a toll on your effectiveness.

Passion for Teaching and Research

Any aspiring lecturer must have a passion for research as this entails a huge part of a lecturer’s work. An aspiring lecturer must be one who enjoys project work, reading journals and articles as well as teaching others. While anyone can get a job as a lecturer, it is only a passion for the job that can keep one successful while at it.

A lecturing job in Nigeria is a rewarding profession that can be yours if you put in the hard work. The key areas of a lecturing job are research, teaching and public speaking, these you cannot avoid.