LASU Vice-Chancellor Urges Youth to Reject Social Vices, Honoured as VC of the Year at ZETSI Conference

The Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University (LASU), Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, has charged Nigerian youths to shun social vices and become agents of positive change in their communities.

She delivered this message during her keynote address at the Zero Tolerance for Social Immoralities Initiative (ZETSI) Africa Leadership Conference 3.0, held on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at the National Merit House, Maitama, Abuja.

At the conference, which attracted more than 1,000 students from tertiary institutions nationwide both physically and virtually, Professor Olatunji-Bello was awarded Vice-Chancellor of the Year by the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Student Engagement and ZETSI Africa in recognition of her fight against sexual immoralities at LASU.

The event was chaired by ZETSI Africa’s Chairman, Ambassador Ibrahim Abdulrazak Imam, HRA, with the First Lady of Kwara State, Ambassador Professor Olufolake Abdulrazaq, serving as Mother of the Day. Other notable speakers included the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Student Engagement, Comrade Asefon Sunday; President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Comrade Solomon Adodo; and Barrister Pelumi Olajengbesi, Managing Partner of LawCorridor.

In her address, Professor Olatunji-Bello described the rise of social vices as a consequence of poverty, weak institutions, and poor governance. She noted that these ills are often a “silent rebellion against a failed system” where corruption seems more rewarding than honesty, and hard work is undervalued.

She urged youths to channel their energy into productive ventures, pointing out that analytical skills used in betting could transform financial markets, the ingenuity applied in fraud could power technology companies, and loyalty misplaced in cultism could build peaceful, innovative movements. She expressed hope in Nigeria’s future under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, assuring the youth that “renewed hope is emerging” and that “Nigeria will work again.”

Citing LASU’s transformation as an example, she recalled how the institution, once plagued by cultism and other vices, has become the most sought-after university in Nigeria. She attributed the turnaround to deliberate interventions such as stronger security, promotion of sports and social clubs, creation of the War Against Drug Abuse Club, abolition of harmful sign-out rituals, and enforcement of zero-tolerance policies against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence through the Centre for Response and Prevention of SGBV.

Professor Olatunji-Bello concluded by urging young Nigerians to change their outlook and lead a moral reawakening: “Shift from hopelessness to hope, from cynicism to faith, from blaming leaders to becoming leaders, and from rebellion through vices to resistance through creativity, innovation, and moral courage.”

In his own remarks, Ambassador Imam described the ZETSI conference as not just a gathering but a movement of determined young Nigerians reclaiming their future from destructive habits. He emphasized the need for a new generation of leaders who are intellectually competent and morally sound.

As part of the day’s activities, the Students Against Immoralities (SAI) Club was inaugurated to strengthen the campaign against social vices across Nigerian campuses.