The stage is set for the Governor of Lagos State and Visitor to Lagos State University, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-olu, to appoint the next Vice-Chancellor of the institution. The result of the Monday 21st December 2020 interview of the five shortlisted candidates by the Joint Council and Senate Selection Committee seems to have been already communicated to the Governor and Visitor, in the order of merit. Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello made the first position, Professor Kabir Akinyemi came second and Professor Olumuyiwa Odusanya was third. If the emphasis on merit-based appointment of the next Vice-Chancellor of LASU is anything to go by, the first position out of the three shortlisted professors should be appointed by the Governor of Lagos State and Visitor to the institution.
Clearly, the Joint Council and Senate Selection Committee’s result shows the degree of preparedness of each candidate for the job. The different academic and administrative positions at the highest level of professional competence that Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello has held suggest that the Joint Council and Senate Selection Committee’s recommendation of her name in the first position on the list was apt. The committee must have recognised her quintessential quality of leadership which the institution requires at this time in order to build on the current developments.
One thing stands Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello out of the two other candidates: her candidature is without any controversy. Kabir Akinyemi has been noted to be statutorily unqualified ab initio, having not met the 10 years’ post-professorial experience stipulated in the advertisement for the position. If appointed, this clause may lead to a crisis of legitimacy for him in the institution. The institution cannot afford such kind of crisis at this time, having experienced relative peace in the last five years. Kabir Akinyemi is not new to controversy in LASU though as his position as Chairman ASUU-LASU and the attendant roles he seemed to have played during the crisis of the John Obafunwa administration appears to have contributed to his dismissal from ASUU-LASU by the National Executive Council of ASUU over 5 years ago in March 2015. His pivotal role in the ill-fated Obafunwa administration also estranged him from the other staff unions in the University. He was to be given the so-called Obafunwa treatment of expulsion from his office as Dean of Students Affairs, but for the strong plea of some notable personalities within the campus, same March of 2015. This crisis of reputation may not be unconnected to the reason he lost the elections into the position of Dean of Science on the three (3) occasions that he contested. His immediate constituency, Faculty of Science, rejected him successively in the 2016, 2018 and 2020 Deanship elections. Besides, there is no record in the University Registry when Akinyemi was ever appointed or elected as a member of the University Governing Council.
The controversy with Olumuyiwa Odusanya’s candidature is about his non-possession of the PhD degree. Odusanya, a fine scholar, possesses a Fellowship certificate of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, but the advertisement for the position clearly states that the candidate must be a scholar with significant impact in areas of international supervision and examination of PhD, and must also have supervised students (especially PhD). If appointed, this clause may also lead to a crisis of legitimacy as a Vice-Chancellor without a PhD cannot confer PhD degrees on students. Such a Vice-Chancellor cannot also chair the Senate of the University where results of PhD students are considered to be approved. In fact, LASU is presently laying off academic staff without PhD after long years of service. The argument that the fellowship of the Medical College is equivalent to a PhD has not gained traction because many fellows of the College across Nigeria also have PhDs. The reason is that both serve different purposes. While the fellowship eminently qualifies a doctor to practice, training for teaching and research in academia only comes with a PhD.
The Governor of Lagos and Visitor to Lagos State University does not need a seer to know who the cap fits in this circumstance. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello seems to understand the LASU terrain as her tenure as Acting Vice-Chancellor was a generally peaceful period. She coordinated well with all staff and student unions. It was after she left that crisis re-emerged during the Obafunwa administration.

Olatunji Alonge writes from LASU

I wish all the aspirant the best

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