UNILAG Governing Council to Announce New VC Friday

Uchechukwu Nnaike

The Governing Council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) says it will on Friday announce the 13th substantive vice-chancellor of the institution following a successful screening of the seven shortlisted candidates.
The outgoing and 12th Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, is expected to end his five-year single term of office on November 11.
The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Mr. Lanre Tejuoso, hinted this at the university’s medical college in Idi-Araba, Lagos, during an event to mark the institution’s 60th anniversary .
Out of the eight professors that submitted applications before the deadline for submission in June, seven were shortlisted by the council last week.
The pro-chancellor promised a level-playing field for all the participating candidates, saying that as a proud alumnus, he would ensure that the new peaceful atmosphere on the campus is sustained.
He said neither the friends of the outgoing VC nor his own associates were part of those who decided on the criteria on the shortlist.
He said whoever would emerge as the vice-chancellor will be God’s choice, “because the process will be transparent.”
The seven shortlisted candidates are lecturers in the university from the Faculties of Management Sciences, Arts, Law, Sciences, and the College of Medicine.
They are: Timothy Nubi, Department of Estate Management, Faculty of Environmental Sciences; Abayomi Akinyeye, Department of History, Faculty of Arts; Folasade Ogunsola, College of Medicine; Mathew Ilori and Adeyinka Adekunle both of the Department of Microbiology and Botany, Faculty of Sciences.
Others are Imran Smith, Faculty of Law; and Ayo Olowe, Department of Finance, Faculty of Management Sciences.

Nubi is a Professor of Estate Management and currently the Director, University of Lagos Research Management Office.
Born on July 27, 1961, he obtained a National and Higher National Diploma in Town Planning at the Ogun State Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology respectively.
Nubi bagged a bachelor’s degree in Estate Management at the University of Lagos, and Master’s and PhD certificates in the same university.
He has published 98 papers on various issues around housing and urban development and founded the Ideal Habitat Initiative, a non-governmental organisation that introduces people to a cooperative approach to home ownership through urban regeneration. He also published a book ‘Home Ownership Made Easy’ in 2003.
With more than 35 papers on various issues of Housing and Urban Development, Nubi led the first national workshop on ‘Land Management and Property Tax Reform.’ He is a Fellow of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers.
A former Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nubi is the founding Director, University of Lagos Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, and former Director, School of Foundation Studies.
Nubi was the Chairman of Senate and Ceremonies that re engineered the entire convocation system into a best practice and a model for a modern day convocation that other universities come to learn from.
Nubi was also a council member, Federal Housing Authority, one of the largest government Agencies in Nigeria.

Ogunsola

Ogunsola is a professor of Medical Microbiology and a consultant clinical microbiologist and infection control for the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
Born in 1958, she holds a PhD in Medical Microbiology, an MSc in Medical Microbiology with Distinction, and a Diploma in Biomedical Techniques from the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, among others.

A fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, West African College of Physicians, National Postgraduate Medical College in Pathology, Nigerian Academy of Science, and Foundation Fellow of both the Nigerian Academy of Medicine and the Academy of Medicine Specialties.

Ogunsola had served as the university’s acting Vice-Chancellor and former Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Development Services. Before that, she had also served as the pioneer and only female Provost of the university’s College of Medicine.

She also served as a governing council member for three terms, ranking as the only one with a such number of years in the governing council among the contenders.
Ogunsola is said to have received various prestigious awards from both local and international bodies and has one hundred and 142 publications in reputable academic journals and has co-authored four books.
She has successfully supervised or co-supervised eight  doctoral students and 61 master’s students

Smith

Smith, a Professor of Private and Property Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has been a Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London since 2010.

Smith obtained his Bachelor of Law (LLB) at the University of Lagos in 1982, his Masters at the Hague Academy of International Law, the Netherlands in 1989 and PhD at the Oxford City Academy, Oxford, the United Kingdom in 2018.

The professor became a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 2007 and Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2010.
He had at different times headed the university’s Department of Private and Property Law and also served as the Dean, Faculty of Law.

Akinyeye

Akinyeye obtained his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in History in 1981, 1985 and 1991 respectively, at the University of Lagos. He joined the university’s Department of History and rose through the ranks to become a professor in 2005.

A former Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 2013 to 2015, and a member of the university’s governing council from 2012 to 2016. He is a member of the specialised committee on the Humanities of the Nigerian National Order of Merit Award’s Governing Board and a former Chairman of the university’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). He was also the union’s Ibadan Zonal Coordinator from 2007 to 2010.

Akinyeye belongs to different professional bodies and is a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN), regarded as the country’s pioneer academic association.

Ilori

Born on July 4, 1963, Matthew Ilori obtained his degrees, Bachelor of Science in Biology, Master of Philosophy in Microbiology and Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology at the University of Lagos in 1984, 1990 and 1998 respectively.

Ilori’s teaching experience began at the university in 1986 when he served as a graduate assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences and later moved to the Department of Botany and Microbiology, Lagos State University, Ojo.

In 1996, Ilori returned to UNILAG’s Department of Botany and Microbiology where he rose through the ranks to become a professor in 2009.

A former member of the National Oil Spill Guidelines Drafting Team for NOSDRA, Ilori has also functioned as an external examiner to the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the University of Ibadan and the Lagos State University, Ojo.

Ilori is a recipient of many awards, scholarships, research grants and honours including UNESCO Fellowship in Biotechnology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK (1997), Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Fellow, Institut fur Biologie V, Aachen Technical University, Germany (2000-2001), among others.

Adekunle

Adekunle was born on February 9, 1963 and bagged a B.Sc (Hons) in Botany from the University of Lagos in 1986. He also bagged his M.Sc. in Botany and PhD in Botany from the university in 1988 and 1996 respectively.

Adekunle joined the university in 1989 as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Lagos became an associate professor in 2010, and is now a professor.

In 1999, he was awarded a UNESCO fellowship in Biotechnology and won the UNILAG faculty winning research award, for the College of Medicine through the Department of biochemistry in 2006.

Olowe

Olowe was a chairman of the UNILAG chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, and a former head of the Department of Finance, Faculty of Management Services.