PROF. Folabi Olumide, Pioneer Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU) has lauded the current administration of the institution under the leadership of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, for delivering the mandate to make the university great.

Olumide spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the LASU Alumni Association’s maiden edition of Professor Folabi Olumide Annual Lecture Series on Thursday evening.

The lecture was entitled: ‘Rethinking Medical Education: An Imperative For Improving Health Care In Nigeria’.

Olumide, 82, a Professor of Surgery, became the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of LASU at 47 in 1984 when the institution was established.

He said the present management had recorded a remarkable feat because it paid attention to the most important things in the university education, which include planning, facility development and reappraising.

The pioneer vice-chancellor said LASU had become, unarguably, one of the best universities in Africa, and would go beyond that, as it only requires a good leadership, which it had got.

“The current vice-chancellor is doing a fantastically fantastic work, supported by a great member of staff.

“I have a slogan which I always used in my speeches then, that is, `to make LASU great is a task that must be done’.

“That task has been achieved; LASU has made great strides and is doing very well in all spheres, which include education, comportment of students, dedication of staff and development of facilities.

“That is why I say, we are LASU, we are proud and I expect that the university would grow from strength to strength, as we have not seen anything yet,” he said.

Olumide urged Fagbohun to continue to adhere to the university’s rule of law and sustain the mutual relationship it had built with the staff and student populace, to maintain the peace and progress enjoyed in the institution.

The professor said the major challenges faced in administering the university at inception include finances and development in terms of infrastructure, academic programmes and planning for the future.

He appreciated the university Alumni Association for putting up a lecture series in his honour and recognising his effort while in service.

“I feel great and give thanks to God for bringing such to pass in my life time, as it is one of the reminisces of memorable days,” he said.

On his part, Fagbohun said since the present LASU was administered with inclusive governance, it was pertinent to also include its founding fathers in the transformation agenda and tap from their wealth of experience, hence the lecture.

“We must never forget that there are founding fathers of this institution who had goals, desires and expectation for the university.

“The only way for us to measure whether we are fulfilling the expectations, is to ensure that they are part of the critical discussion that we are doing to move forward.

“It is not about the theory of these individuals, such as the pioneer VC, but their practical experiences, challenges and how they surmounted them and their long term goal for the institution,” he said.

Fagbohun said the presence of the founder of the university and former governor of the state, Alh. Lateef Jakande, at the event expressed his delight that his vision for establishing the university had come to fruition.

“Today, LASU has graduated over 200,000 students, that is a fall out of Baba Jakande’s vision,” he said. (NAN)

– Apr. 12, 2019 @ 15:15 GMT |