Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has urged Nigerians to disregard his purported removal by the Governing Council of the institution.

Oladejo Azeez, Registrar and Secretary to the Governing Council, announced the removal of Ogundipe.

The Council accused him of wrongdoing, gross misconduct, financial recklessness and abuse of office.

But reacting to his purported sack, Ogundipe asked the general public to disregard the “mischievous disinformation contained in that notice”.

However, here are 3 scandals that have rocked UNILAG under sacked VC, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe

1. Sex-for-grade

Firstly, in October 2019, an investigative reporter with the BBC caught a senior lecturer at the University, Dr Boniface Igbeneghu, on tape demanding sex from a ‘student' seeking admission into the school.

Igbeneghu soiled the image of the university as the reporter posed as the prospective student.

In a 13-minute clip, after trying to sexually molest the 'student', he told her about a cold room in the UNILAG Staff Club where lecturers usually have sex with female students in return for marks.

Many Nigerians accused the UNILAG VC of trying to cover up the mess. Prof. Ogundipe quickly dismissed the allegations.

Afterwards, he assured Nigerians that the sex scandal involving the lecturer of the institution will not be swept under the rug.

In his words: “There will not be any cover up. Globally, they are watching us to see what we will do with the case.”

2. Fake Lecturers/Professors

Secondly,  in December 2019, the National Universities Commission released a publication claiming that over 100 fake professors existed in the Nigerian university system including UNILAG.

As a quick follow-up, the police in Lagos arraigned a 39-year-old fake UNILAG lecturer, Mr. Isaac Obi, at an Ojo Magistrates' Court.

To clarify, the Police charged him with three counts of false pretenses, fraud and stealing.

Obi had earlier presented himself as a lecturer from the University of Lagos to one Lucky Ikeduba.

However, Prof. Ogundipe, the VC, denied the report, saying UNILAG does not have any fake professor in its system.

“In UNILAG, we don't have fake professors. In other words, there is nobody with a fake PhD. We even check WAEC certificates of staff on a regular basis with concerned exam bodies. We also know each other on campus and such things don't exist here," he said at a media parley.

3. Corruption

Above all, the Pro-Chancellor UNILAG, Wale Babalakin, had a major face-off and supremacy fight with Ogundipe over the governing council decision to probe the university's finances.

The probe followed the collapse of an uncompleted library building. It aimed to determine the quality of work and its cost, and investigate other alleged improprieties of the university's vice-chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, and other top officials of the institution.

Earlier, an audit panel set up by the Council reportedly indicted Prof. Ogundipe, two of his three deputies – Folashade Ogunsola and Oluwole Familoni – and some principal members of the university's management.

Source: https://candiidonline.com/2020/08/13/3-major-scandals-that-rocked-unilag-under-vc-oluwatoyin-ogundipe/