Badejo Holds Inaugural Senate Meeting as LASU VC, Unveils Vision to Make University Africa's Most Consequential City University

The 10th substantive Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, Professor Ayodeji Olawunmi Badejo, has charged the university's Senate to reposition LASU from an institution admired for its size to one that Lagos State cannot do without.

Professor Badejo gave the charge on Thursday, October 29, 2026, while presiding over her inaugural Senate meeting at the Senate Chamber, Babatunde Raji Fashola Senate Building, Main Campus, Ojo.

In her address, the Vice-Chancellor thanked the Lagos State Government, the Governing Council and the people of Lagos for the confidence reposed in her. She also paid tribute to her predecessors, both substantive and acting, for their contributions to the university's stability, consistent academic calendar and growing reputation as the most preferred university in the country.

Describing the Senate as "the place where the university thinks," Professor Badejo said LASU was not an institution to be merely administered but one to be inherited, served and handed forward. She appealed to senior professors who had withdrawn from Senate activities to return and contribute their institutional memory to guide the emerging generation of scholars.

"Àgbà kì í wà lọ́jà kí orí ọmọ tuntun wọ́. A Senate without its elders is a Senate condemned to repeat its mistakes," she said.

*LASU's Growth and Present Realities*

Reflecting on LASU's trajectory since its establishment in 1983 by Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Professor Badejo noted that the university had fulfilled its founding promise in scale and reach. She disclosed that 84,326 candidates chose LASU as first choice in the current admission cycle, making it Nigeria's most preferred university for the second consecutive year.

According to her, the university now has over 85,000 students across its Ojo, Ikeja, Epe and Badagry campuses, with nearly all academic programmes fully accredited. She cited recent milestones including West Africa's largest digital library domiciled in LASU, its selection to host the South-West's only National Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences, and the global outing of its women's football team.

She, however, cautioned that growth must translate to impact. She noted that research income remains in millions instead of billions of naira, enrolment still outstrips available teaching facilities, and staff entitlements need clearer verification.

The meeting ended with a renewed commitment to collective responsibility for LASU's future.