UNILAG Mentees, Family Honour Professor Kehinde Olayinka For A Lifetime Of Excellence And Mentorship

A renovated school library, generations of inspired scholars, heartfelt tributes from family, friends and colleagues, and a career defined by academic excellence and purposeful mentorship.

These were some of the remarkable expressions of love and appreciation that characterised the retirement celebration of Professor Kehinde Ololade Olayinka, Professor of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

The celebration, organised by the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences, was held at the Tayo Aderinokun Lecture Theatre, UNILAG, Akoka, Lagos, in recognition of Professor Olayinka's legacy of leadership and excellence as she bowed out of active service.

The event featured a public lecture titled, "Beyond Environmental Monitoring: Advocacy, Policy, and Governance as Pillars of a Sustainable Environment," delivered by Hon. Rasheed Adebola Shabi, Member, Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Lagos Mainland Constituency II and former General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade T. Ogunsola, OON, FAS, served as Chief Host, while the immediate past Vice-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Board of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, FAS, chaired the occasion. Co-hosts were the Dean, Faculty of Physical and Earth Sciences, Professor Olayinka Asekun, and the Head, Department of Chemistry, Professor Tolulope Fasina.

In a fitting tribute to her roots and her lifelong commitment to education, the Analytical/Environmental Chemistry Research Group (AECRG) of UNILAG, in collaboration with family, friends, and mentees of Professor Olayinka, renovated the library of Reagan Nursery and Primary School — the school where she received her first formal education.

The renovated library is expected to inspire young minds and light the scholarly paths of generations of pupils who will use the facility.

Professor Olayinka is recognised as the first Professor of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry at UNILAG. She obtained a http://B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Ibadan in 1979, an http://M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry from Ahmadu Bello University in 1982, and a Ph.D. in Analytical and Environmental Chemistry from the University of Greenwich, United Kingdom, in 1988

She worked at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), before joining UNILAG as a Senior Lecturer in 1999. She was promoted to Professor in 2011.

Over her distinguished career, Professor Olayinka supervised hundreds of students, including more than 12 doctoral graduates. She developed postgraduate programmes in Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and Environmental Management, and has published more than 87 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Chemical Society of Nigeria, the Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria, and the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria.

Professor Olayinka was among six professors celebrated by the UNILAG Senate at its meeting on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, ahead of their retirement from active service.

At the Senate celebration, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ogunsola, congratulated the retiring academics on their distinguished service to the University and their contributions to knowledge, and wished them well in retirement.

For her mentees, family and colleagues, the retirement celebration was more than a farewell. It was a celebration of a teacher, mentor and scholar whose life's work continues to live on in the students she raised, the programmes she built, and the young learners now inspired by a library renovated in her honour.