When on August 24th 2020, the Senate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, elected Folasade Ogunsola, as the acting vice chancellor of the institution, expectations were high as she will be confronted with several nagging issues which she needs to resolve fast in the limited time she has pending the outcome of the presidential visitation panel.
Ogunsola, 62, the first female to be appointed to the office in the 58 years history of UNILAG must, as a matter of urgency, attempt to bring together all the warring factions in the university to the same page so as to jointly move the university to appreciable heights.
Stakeholders in the education sector got worried, especially when the frosty relationship between Wale Babalakin, former pro-chancellor and the University management led to the sack of Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, former vice-chancellor.
The touted lack of application of due process in the sacking and appointment of acting vice chancellor, simply ridiculed the institution. The school has never had such turbulence in recent times. For whatever it will take, Ogunsola must ensure that her actions, inactions and reactions are geared towards restoring peace to the troubled institution.
Concerned stakeholders in the institution were not surprised when the visitor to the university, President Muhammadu Buhari in the heat of the crisis suspended Wale Babalakin, pro-chancellor and Ogundipe as vice-chancellor.
Ogunsola, a professor of medical microbiology and first child of Nigeria’s first professor of Geography, Akin Mabogunje, is expected to act pending the outcome of the presidential visitation panel to the university and the subsequent decision of the visitor to the university.
ASUU’s reactions and expectations
The Lagos chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while reacting to the election of Folasade Ogunsola said they would support and cooperate with her for the progress of the citadel of learning.
Dele Ashiru, chairman ASUU, UNILAG’s chapter commended the Senate for standing for what he termed truth and also for giving the university a new vice-chancellor in a hitch-free electoral process.
Ashiru described the election of the acting vice-chancellor of the university by its Senate as a major step by the Federal Government to arrest the crisis in the school.
ASUU called on the acting vice chancellor to run an open and transparent style of management urging her to steer the institution away from the past controversies which were mainly political in nature.
To ASUU, Ogunsola should carry along the management staff of the institution in decision-making and avoid the temptation of doing it alone.
The acting vice chancellor is certainly inheriting a baggage of discontented staff whose loyalty and performance will depend on how she will quickly address this anomaly.
It will be a tough way to go but for her to succeed in this short time, she must act fast and timely to raise the morale of the entire teaching and non-teaching staff, ASUU noted.
Views from students
A cross-section of students who spoke to BDSUNDAY expressed optimism that the University would at least have a semblance of peace to carry out its primary academic functions.
Uche Nwaeze, a 300-level student of the University, opines that he expects the acting vice chancellor to draw a distinction between the core mandate of office of the vice chancellor and what is political.
Nwaeze insists that Ogunsola as a mother should be fair and firm in her decision-making process.
According to him, “What Ogunsola should do is ensure that the top and middle management are highly professionalised. She must forge a close tie with the Governing council and university senate and policy coming from each must be properly harmonised”.
Akeem Balogun, a 400 level student of the school noted that Ogunsola is a respected figure in medical and academic fields and this will help. She recognises the need to strengthen proactive programmes and activities that enhance quality education and offer knowledge, skill and values for staff and students to enable them to compete globally.
“I strongly believe that only what is required from acting vice chancellor is to make available resources that can be used for the development of human capital so we can have good peace in this great citadel of learning”, Balogun said.
He further called on Ogunsola to reverse the trend where academics no longer go back to classes or universities, no thanks to poor motivation, a situation that has seen first-class brains being lost to other sectors like banks, Oil and gas, telecom and others.
The task ahead Ogunsola
Folasade Ogunsola before her election as vice chancellor served as Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria and was deputy vice chancellor and served meritoriously.
The expectation is that she will carry this culture of academic and management excellence with her in this her new role. She should complement this with staff training and re-training. She must see her role as a manager of the human and material and nothing short of that.
She should develop strategies that would tap into the academic strength of the citadel of learning by deliberately encouraging the investment research and development while attracting investment from organisations local and international.
University of Lagos under Ogunsola should not be one that pursues internally generated revenue alone to the detriment of staff and students welfare. It is when there is relative peace across aspects of the school that investors can move in to invest.
She should make policies to be focused on development of robust academic environment which will in turn encourage and attract alumni, friends and other well-meaning stakeholders to invest in the economic progress of the University First Choice and the nation’s pride.
Ogunsola’s profile
Folasade Ogunsola is the former Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria. She studied Medical Microbiology from the College of Medicine, University of Wales, Cardiff. She is the first female Provost at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos in its 50 years of existence.
She specialises in disease control, particularly HIV/AIDS. Her research areas have been centered on the regulation and management of viral diseases, particularly HIV. She is the principal investigator at AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN) at University of Lagos.
She has also been the chairman of Infection Control Committee of Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Additionally, she is the chairman of the National Association of Colleges of Medicine in Nigeria.
