LASU VC Advert Sparks Controversy Over Reduced Eligibility Criteria

Lagos State University vice-chancellor vacancy advertisement has generated controversy as staff question the reduced experience requirement and inaugural lecture criterion, while the university management defends the selection process.

The vacancy advert placed for the VC position states that a professor with experience of 1-5 years can apply for the job. 

Previous LASU adverts and those of other universities require a professor to have 10 years and above experience to apply for such position.

Aside from the years of experience, staff picked holes on the inaugural lecture requirements as part of the criteria to apply for the plum job.

There are insinuations on the three campuses that the advert for the VC position was deliberate to favour some professors and scheme out others.

Some staff wondered why the university that claims to aspire to be the best in West Africa through academic and research standards will lower the criteria for the appointment of a vice chancellor.

The staff accused the university management of lowering the criteria to suit a purpose and queried why the governing council rubber-stamped the advert without looking at previous adverts and those of other universities.

A former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Olatunji Abanikannda, picked holes in some of the criteria listed by the governing council and queried some wordings in the advert, which may connote different meaning.

Prof. Abanikannda’s reaction is contained in a facebook article titled: “Few, Several, and Many: The Politics and Arithmetic of Approximation in the recently released Advertisement for the Position of Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University.”

The article attracted several reactions with the respondents agreeing with his queries raised on five years requirement, demand for a professor to have delivered inaugural lecture and use of ambiguous words in the advert.   

He said: “It must be noted that language is imprecise by design, whereas mathematics demands exactitude! Ordinary speech operates in the comfortable middle ground of approximation, and among the most commonly used and least carefully examined words in the English language are few, several, and many.”

“The said advert is a prelude to setting the stage for commotion, which by design is to culminate in the appointment of an acting VC. Lagos State University is endowed with more than enough human and material resources and getting a suitably qualified person to occupy the position of VC should not be rocket science.

“Let us review the 24 criteria set by the advert in the light of compliance and deviance from the benchmark of advertisement for the office of vice chancellor across various universities (federal, state or privately owned) and see the comedy associated with this instant advertisement.  I deliberately attach images of advertisements from other universities for the same position for your candid perusal and comments.”

He said the inclusion of supervision of PhD candidates as another debatable issue and asked if the criteria are easily actionable by professors in Arts and Humanities, he wondered how achievable that would be in the core sciences and medical studies.

According to him, criteria two, is the most laughable, debatable, vexatious and contentious requirement, adding, “if you look through all adverts previously and currently released by the other universities, and even LASU previous advertisements, you will see a marked deviation from the norm in this instant advertisement under review.

“Since when have several replaced exact figures in advertisements, which prompted the prologue to this post? Equally troubling is the inclusion of “must” have presented his/her inaugural lecture. I wish to be educated if inaugural lecture is a compulsory strictly academic event especially in the light of the way and manner it is been organized and delivered in LASU.”

Prof. Abanikannda said the lecture in LASU has become a strategic weapon, whereby political opponents have been deliberately denied opportunity for presentation when the drive for the imposition of a successor has become obvious.

The don argued that the use of the word “must” is deliberate to exclude some other interested candidates from participating, stressing, “it is a known fact that inaugural lectures in LASU are more of social function and capital intensive than academic.

Abanikannda called on well-meaning people entrusted with the superintending functions of the university to see the booby traps in this current advertisement and avert unnecessary bickering that may arise due to the subtle and blatant intricacies woven around the advertisement.

He asked: “What could have prompted the imposition of a candidate who became a professor on 1st October 2023, which technically is not even up to three years on the expected date of assumption of duty on 19th September 2026. That explains why those that were “elected” to be members of the selection committee from the university Senate were in the same sub-groups (1-5 years) of professors in the same university that have several professors of over 15 years standing.”

According to him, the same university was unambiguous in stipulating the minimum benchmarks in the advertisement for the positions of the recently appointed Registrar and Bursar, noting that there was nothing like “several” but a figure of five years post deputy registrar experience!

The former dean noted that the last advertisement that brought in the incumbent VC was specific on number of years of post-professorial experience and asked why the current advert is different, if the intent was not to cause commotion?

Registrar of LASU, Mr. Emmanuel Fanu, faulted the claim of Prof. Abanikannda and others, insisting that there is no written law in LASU that stipulates a professor must have 10 and above years of experience to apply for the VC position.

He said the advert was approved by a joint council and senate and that several years could be 1, 2, 4, or 10 years, adding, “there is no written law that stipulate 10 years and above. It is an unwritten law. The law of LASU stipulates the governor as the Visitor who appoints the vice chancellor.”

Fanu explained that the governor has delegated his powers to the governing council who recommend three candidates to the governor, noting, if a professor comes first and the governor has security report against such a person, he/she can not be appointed VC. When a candidate comes first, it is not automatic he/she become VC.

The registrar however disclosed that the adverts that produced Prof. John Obafunwa and Prof. Lateef Hussein stated several years’ experience. He also revealed that the advert that brought in Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello after the third attempt of the selection process stipulate 10 years, arguing, the first and second exercise required five years.

He said the Chairman, Governing Council of LASU, Babatunde Ogala, a Senior Advoacte of Nigeria (SAN) cannot toy with his professional career over the forthcoming selection exercise, stating, “I have done what the joint council and senate asked me to do.’’

On the inaugural lecture, Fanu asked how a professor that has not delivered an inaugural lecture wants to preside over professors that will deliver their inaugural lecture, adding, “if the criteria have been so it in the past, it is not right.’’

Fanu said an inaugural lecture is an opportunity for a professor to tell the university community and the country about his research outcome and how he/she arrived at the conclusion.

His words: “Every professor who thinks he/she is qualified has the opportunity to apply. It is only those shortlisted that will be contacted. And the governor has the final say on who become the vice chancellor.’’