Between Sanwo-Olu and LASU desperadoes

BY SAMSON AJAYI

The popular saying that “a desperate man is a dangerous man” is undoubtedly fast playing out at LASU (Lagos State University) over the selection of its ninth substantive Vice Chancellor. A process which ought to have been driven by objectivity and meritocracy has, alas, turned ugly and been overpoliticized, no thanks to some desperadoes to whom the exercise seems a matter of “do or die”.

This is the conclusion one could draw from the submission by one Olanrewaju Osho entitled “If LASU must excel” published recently on the esteemed TheCable platform. Reading through the farrago of illogic and cant in the said miserable article, it was clear Mr. Osho was holding brief for these agents of philistinism.

His puerile argument is quite in tandem with a slew of others being circulated in a section of the media following reports that a visitation panel set up by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu (BOS) had submitted its findings. Of course, the sole objective of this last-ditch gambit could only be to browbeat or blackmail the Lagos helmsman into doing their selfish bidding.

It is noteworthy to recall that BOS had in January set aside the recommendations of the kangaroo panel set up by the then outgoing Vice Chancellor, Professor Olanrewaju Fagboun, following widespread  complaints of “manipulations and underhand dealings”.

Osho’s poor piece would, at best, sound like a rehash of the old toxic argument peddled all over the media by Tajudeen Olanrewaju, the failed coupist whose “Major General” rank in the army was stripped by the Victor Malu panel over the December 1997 coup plot. The summary of Olanrewaju’s campaign is that the process to select new VC for LASU must be driven and decided by “son of the soil” mentality, and not necessarily by objectivity and merit.

In the said article, Mr. Osho took liberty to liken the otherwise fair step taken by the state government to “June 12” – that is, “aborting” a process that had produced a shortlist of three candidates from which a choice was supposed to be made. Nothing could be more sacrilegious and fallacious.

On the contrary, the Governor deserves plaudits for taking the right decision by voiding the kangaroo process orchestrated by the outgone Vice Chancellor in cahoots with the Pro Chancellor, Professor Adedayo Ninalowo, accused of unconcealed political partisanship.  Against established academic tradition which forever emphasizes the primacy of substance over emotion, that “janjaweed” panel set up by Fagboun and his clique sought to make such noxious factors like indigeneship as determinant for the esteemed office of Vice Chancellor.

To them, factors like academic excellence or proven and verifiable antecedents of administrative competence were secondary. It was no coincidence therefore that out of the shortlist of three the Fagboun’s clique originally submitted, two of them hail from the same zone (Ikorodu) as the buccaneering Ninalowo. That was the extent to which which the Pro Chancellor and his cohorts attempted to carry their impunity.

Indeed, it came to light that one of the favorites of the immediate past Vice Chancellor

was shortlisted for interview and subsequently recommended for VC position without possessing a PhD, against one of provisions of the criteria clearly stated in the newspaper advertisement. A feeble defence has been made that possession of a fellowship certificate is good enough. But those who advance this point of view completely ignore the declaration by the regulatory authority, National University Commission, that  those with the Fellowship should go and obtain a PhD. This is simply to underscore the fact that the requisite academic qualification to teach and conduct research in the University is a PhD.

In any case, the 2019 Regulations Governing Postgraduate Studies in Lagos State University as approved by Senate of the University expressly prescribes that on the Eligibility to Teach and Examine Postgraduate Courses such a person must be: “Academic Staff with a doctorate degree e.g Ph.D, D.Phl., D.Ed. and with a minimum of one year of teaching and/or research experience shall normally be eligible to teach and examine postgraduate courses. The category of staff can teach and examine all levels of postgraduate students [i.e., PGD, MA/MSc., M.Ed., M.Phil/Ph.D and PhD]”.

The advertisement for the position of Vice Chancellor placed in the newspapers by the Joint Council and Senate Selection Committee clearly stated that “such a candidate must be a scholar with significant impact in areas of international supervision and examination of PhD, and must also have supervised students (especially PhD)”.

But one of the persons Fagboun and Ninalowo sought to foist on LASU was clearly deficit here!

Secondly, there was the breach of another provision requiring that “the candidate should be a distinguished scholar of the rank of Professor of ten (10) years standing with several years of teaching and research in a University”.  The Joint Council and Senate Selection Committee violated this by unjustly shortlisting Prof. Kabir Akinyemi while disqualifying the eminent Prof. A.O.K. Noah. They both are statutorily unqualified.

Yet again, the Joint Council and Senate Selection Committee grossly violated another of the advertised criteria requiring “a scholar with significant impact in areas of international supervision and examination of PhD, and must also have supervised students (especially PhD).” The second person on the shortlist submitted by the Fagboun/Ninalowo’s kangaroo panel was found lacking here. For, not only was she unqualified by her failure to successfully supervise and produce a PhD student in her entire academic career, she does not also possess the temperament of a Vice Chancellor. She is highly temperamental and does not command the intellectual respect of her colleagues.

In all of this, it is easy to decipher what was (is) the motive behind this desperation to foist a puppet on LASU by Fagboun and Ninalowo. The tenure of the immediate past Vice Chancellor was dogged by allegations of financial impropriety and administrative atrocities. The reason they seem to be desperate to ensure that there is “paddy paddy” transition, lest the hidden skeletons be unearthed. Just as stories are flying around about a desperation to cover up lots of irregularities in the management and disbursement of TETFUND in the past five years.

Indeed, various genuine stakeholders at LASU including the the local branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had expressed lack of confidence in the exercise earlier superintended by Fagboun/Ninalowo. In fact, it is on record that LASU chapter of ASUU had publicly asked Ninalowo to step down from his position as chairman of the selection committee over what was described as loss of confidence in him.

So, pray, how can Mr. Osho, in good conscience, now pontificate or hope that the aforementioned tainted process is what will make “LASU excell”.

Truly right-thinking Lagosians and indeed the general public have no doubt been following the development at LASU. What they seek is for the right person with competence and capacity to emerge as the new VC. Now that the visitation panel has submitted its report, their expectations are high that their prayer will be answered.  Let Osho and co spare the rest of us their ranting and stop misinforming the public about the true situation at LASU.

Dr. Ajayi wrote from the Ojo Campus of Lagos State University.