The governing council of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, has submitted three names of successful candidates to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for a possible appointment as the institution’s 9th substantive vice-chancellor.
The decision followed the result of the interview conducted for five candidates by a seven-member joint council and senate selection committee.
Members of the selection committee include three professors who were drawn across various departments to represent the university’s senate. They are Barakat Animashaun, Olatunde Owolabi and Babatunde Yusuff. The latter is the incumbent dean of the university’s faculty of business administration.
Those that represent the governing council on the committee include the incoming managing director of MTN in Nigeria, Karl Toriola; a lawyer and managing partner of AEC Legal, a law firm, Anu Eso, and an unnamed female member of the governing council, while the council’s chairman, Adebayo Ninalowo, doubles as the chairman of the committee.
The interview, which held on December 21, was attended by a professor of Physiology and incumbent director of the university’s directorate of advancement of the vice-chancellor’s office, Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello; a professor of Public Health and incumbent director of the university’s research and innovation unit, Olumuyiwa Odusanya, and a former chairperson of the university’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), who was later appointed dean of students’ affairs, Kabir Akinyemi.
The other two candidates who took part in the interview are a former deputy vice-chancellor and professor of food and industrial microbiology, Sena Bakre, and Omotayo Awofolu from the Namibia University of Science and Technology.
Four other applicants for the position including a former vice-chancellor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Sherifdeen Tella; LASU’s immediate past deputy vice-chancellor in charge of academics, Olumuyiwa Noah; Aderemi Oki from Prairie View A&M University, Texas, United States of America, and Hakeem Tijani from National Open University, had earlier been screened out for their alleged failure to meet the requirements set for the applicants.
The result
Investigations by PREMIUM TIMES have revealed that the trio of Odusanya, Bakre and Akinyemi made the list of the three nominees presented to the governor through his special adviser on education (SAE), Tokunbo Wahab.
A government source briefed about the matter, who does not want to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that while Mr Odusanya scored 90 per cent to rank first, Mr Bakre came second with 72.5 per cent. Mr Akinyemi, who ranked third on the list, scored 68.8 per cent.
PREMIUM TIMES
