LASU Professors Petition Sanwo-Olu Over Controversial VC Selection Criteria

Three LASU professors have appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to order a fresh advertisement for the university's Vice Chancellor position, citing ambiguous eligibility criteria and concerns over transparency in the selection process.

The ongoing exercise to appoint a new Vice Chancellor for the Lagos State University (LASU) has taken another dimension as three professors have appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to direct the publication of another advert with the right criteria.

The three dons in an open letter to Sanwo-Olu, said to avert the looming commotion, called on the visitor to LASU to order the Governing Council to place another advert with specific requirements and remove ambiguous words.

Also, the former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Epe campus, Prof. Olatunji Abanikannda, queried the clarification of LASU Registrar, Mr. Emmanuel Fanu on the contentious requirements stated in the advert for the appointment of a new VC

In an open letter to the visitor, titled: “Issues on the Advert for the post of Vice Chancellor Registrar’s Response”, the three dons said the unacceptable criteria for the VC was an attempt to impose a successor.

The trio said the registrar and the VC crafted the contentious advert for the joint senate and council committee.

“There are written and unwritten laws in the university system worldwide and it is expected that whoever would be appointed as VC must have been a professor for at least 10 years.  How on earth would you impose a boyish professor to preside over his teachers who are still very active?

Abanikannda faulted the claim of the registrar there is no specific LASU law that stipulates that a professor must have 10 years and above experience to apply for the position of VC.

“The simple question is to ask him what prompted his inclusion of 10 in the last advertisement that brought in the incumbent Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello. A serious minded university should actually improve on its criteria if it intends to be ranked as a serious university and not trivialize the criteria for the position as sensitive as that of the VC.

“Even if unlike what the extant laws of Lagos State University of Education (LASUED) and the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH) who are sisters to LASU, being owned by the same Lagos State Government, that both unambiguously stated “a professor with a minimum of seven years’ experience with academic and administrative leadership”, then why would LASU toy with the idea of imposing a two year old professor as its heir apparent and successor?”

Meanwhile, the former dean cleared the air that Prof. John Obafunwa and Prof. Lateef Hussein, two former VCs were appointed a professor on June 11th, 2001 and 1984; the two had over ten years of academic and administrative experiences when they were appointed in 2011 and 2005.

He challenged the registrar to provide details of other applicants shortlisted in both exercises with just two years post professorial experience as at the time of the application, adding, “if the advert that brought the incumbent in stipulated 10 years, while her first two previously failed attempts stipulated 5 years, the reasonable question to ask is why now be looking at “1, 2, 4 or 10.”

On the issue of inaugural lecture, he argued that the registrar has limited knowledge on the subject matter because he is not an academic staff and asked if inaugural lecture is that important, how many of the internal members of the selection committee has actually presented their inaugural lecture? 

“So why would they have to assess those who have presented an inaugural lecture? Inaugural lectures are not academic credit system and should not be viewed as one.  That is why, its content neither assessed nor questions asked after its presentation. 

“It was never an additional academic attainment and would never pass to be one, which explains why some people could become vice chancellors before presenting it and others present the inaugural lectures when they have the means to fund it as a social component of university culture.”