By Gabriel Dike

The governing council, Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, has set the ball rolling for the appointment of the 9th substantive vice-chancellor for the 38-year-old institution. 

Unlike previous exercises under the sacked former council chairman, Prof. Adebayo Ninalowo, and the outgone VC, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, the ongoing exercise has so far followed due process.

The Sir David Sunmoni-led council and the LASU Senate elected three members each to the Joint Council and Senate Appointment Committee. Going by the advert placed by the governing council, the ninth VC may resume office in October 2021 after the interview in September.

The last two appointment exercises were marred by protests from aggrieved applicants and some other stakeholders over the way the sacked council and outgone university administration handled the exercises.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Visitor to LASU, constituted a special visitation team to look into the botched exercises and the panel recommended the sack of the Ninalowo-led governing council, cancellation of the second appointment exercise, suspension of the registrar, Mr. Olayinka Amuni, and restart of the selection process.

Staff unions and SUG expectations

The Education Report sought the views of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Students’ Union Government (SUG) and a member of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) on their expectations of the new VC.

Outgoing SSANU chairman, Saheed Oseni, said the union expects a VC that is not only capable but also visionary, forthright, responsive, disciplined and accessible to all staff, adding, he or she “must be competent on the job.”

“We are watching the selection process. We pray this time around that the governing council will get it right and come up with a person that will be acceptable to all without sentiment or bias,” he stated.

On whether SSANU wants an internal or external VC, Oseni said what was important was that the VC must be the best among the applicants and the person suitable for the job should be appointment but stressed that having somebody from within  is not a bad idea.

“As a matter of fact, the university job is done by all segments of staff, not only the academic. All staff are important in the system and both must co-exist. The academic and non-academic should be involved in the appointment of a VC. After all, the VC is for all staff, not for the academic staff alone.

“The non-academic staff stands a good position to help in the appointment of the right person. It is very important to carry the non-teaching staff along in order to make a better choice,’’ Oseni observed.

In his contribution, the SUG president, Badmu Oladipupo Uthman, said the students expect a VC that will respect and protect their interests as well as sustain peace on campus by allowing the SUG operate freely, without interference.

Uthman told The Education Report that any professor can become LASU’s VC, whether he or she is from inside or outside the university environment but added “it is all about competence and good governance.”

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He highlighted issues that are paramount to students that the new VC must tackle, they include insecurity on campus and where students live outside the campus, sustaining peace and ensuring stability and completion of the academic calendar. 

A member of NASU said the junior workers were looking forward to the appointment of a VC that would be for all staff and students, stating the professor must be competent, operate an open-door policy and be acceptable to all stakeholders  on campus.

Said he: “So far, the current governing council has followed due process in the ongoing selection exercise. NASU members expect the council will cap it with the appointment of a VC that will place welfare of staff and students at the front burner. He or she must be for all and not for a section of the staff.

“The VC we want is one that must command the respect of all staff and students. The VC should be fair to all and respect agreed resolutions reached with the staff unions and students.  The VC must have listening ears.”

In a statement made available to The Education Report, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), LASU chapter, said the ninth VC must uphold the laws and tenets of the university, with absolute respect for rules, and due process.

“The union wants a VC that will be fair to both staff and students, and also to the system, in variance to the immediate past administration of Prof. Lanre Fagbohun that ran the university using two sets of rules, one for the cronies of the VC, and a different one for others, particularly dissident voices.

“ASUU-LASU expects a VC that will place a huge premium on quality research and add value to the teaching process in a way that will genuinely rank LASU high among the comity of universities locally and globally. Our union wants a VC whose achievements will do the talking, not one that will waste the university resources on propaganda. ASUU-LASU hopes for a VC that will value and promote true scholarship and meritocracy, with zero tolerance for mediocrity and hypocrisy, which today are big cogs in the wheel of productive academia.’’

PhD and medical fellowship saga

In the Nigerian University System (NUS), doctorate degree is the highest academic qualification while professor is appointed/promoted by a university after the approval of the governing council.

The PhD and medical fellowship saga has cropped up again in the ongoing selection exercise for the 9th vice chancellor. Governor Sanwo-Olu asked the council to include it as one of the qualifications for would be VC.

Sanwo-Olu’s decision is based on a petition from the Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos State branch and Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria, LASUTH chapter, that holders of fellowship were shut out of the race despite the National Universities Commission (NUC) circular ref NUC/FS/138/Vol 68/53 dated March 2020 that PhD by clinical lecturers was voluntary and optional. The two associations said the commission withdrew the circular without stating the date or show evidence.

But the NUC affirmed it position that medical fellowship is not equivalent to PhD,when the Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed told the President of West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS) is not equivalent or superior to PhD.  The regulatory body later introduced a new postgraduate degree for fellowship holders, Doctor of Medicine (MD).

Prof. Rasheed warned that the commission will not encourage medical fellowship of any professional bodies as a substitute for a PhD.

Despite minor slip in the selection exercise, stakeholders have affirmed that the sunmoni-led governing council followed due process.  The workers and students are expectant that the ongoing appointment exercise for the 9th VC would yield positive result.