The Lagos Government has assured all stakeholders that the next Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, LASU, will be appointed based on merit and proper process, emphasising that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu does not have an appointed candidate for the position.
Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, offered the promise on Thursday while speaking on a radio show about the termination of two processes to nominate a substantive Vice-Chancellor for the school, as recommended by the Special Visitation Panel.
The Panel of Inquiry established by the Visitor to the University, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, submitted that the procedure for appointing a new Vice-Chancellor did not comply with the laws governing such a process, noting that LASU is a creation of the law and the appointment of the VC must follow the extant provisions, according to Wahab.
According to him: “By law, there must be an advert that calls for applications from qualified candidates for the post of the Vice-Chancellor. The requirements for the post as contained in the advert must be ratified by a properly constituted Governing Council before publication. However, the advert was published without recourse to the Governing Council and was only presented to the body as a fait accompli, giving way to favoured candidates to emerge.
“Among the contentious issues were the years of experience of interested candidates on professorial cadre, which was benchmarked at five years. The Chairman was accused of suggesting names of preferred candidates to the Council at its first meeting.
“The Council that eventually ratified the advert and conditions published in the advert was not properly constituted, hence the candidates that emerged were selected and not appointed according to the laid down guidelines of the institution.”
The Special Adviser stated that the Visitor’s actions did not delay the appointment and that he was only interested in a fair process for all candidates. The Governing Council was given a second chance to conduct a new appointment process, but a flood of petitions appeared even before the outcome of the process was made public.
Wahab described LASU as a global brand and Nigeria’s top state university, saying the college was constructing a world-class business school on Victoria Island and had already formed a collaboration with Cornell, an Ivy League university in New York.
According to him, the State Government is focused on forming a new Governing Council and a Visitation Panel to ensure a free and transparent process for appointing the Vice-Chancellor of LASU.
“We desire a due and transparent process, which informed our stand that the appointment must be merit-based because you cannot build something on nothing; let the process throw up the best,” he said.
In response to the host’s assertion that Nigeria is a country where the leader must micromanage, the Special Adviser stated that while LASU is an independent institution, Governor Sanwo-Olu, as Visitor, has the authority to intervene to prevent a flawed process of appointing the University’s Vice Chancellor.
Wahab, a lawyer, said the former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, did an outstanding job putting LASU on a global pedestal, pushing the institution’s image and reputation to the international stage, and managing the deep-seated disagreements that led to the protracted process that preceded his appointment and tenure.
Source: The Vanguard