The newly appointed Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Professor Olumuyiwa Omotola Odusanya, paid a courtesy visit to the paramount ruler of Ikorodu Division HRM, Oba Kabiru Shotobi, at the Ayangbure Palace, on Wednesday, November 2, 2022. The visit, which was witnessed by notable chiefs of the kingdom, academic staff of the university and journalists, marked a new beginning for the new university management and the host community.
The substantive pioneer vice chancellor of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), Professor Olumuyiwa Odusanya, in company of his newly formed academic cabinet, were led by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Lanre K. Kuye, into the Ayangbure and Adeboruwa Palaces by few minutes past 12 noon.
The academicians who arrived in a branded coastal bus, comprised of the pioneer vice chancellor, the pioneer deputy vice chancellor, Dr. Olumide Metilelu; deputy vice chancellor, Dr. Kolawole Godonou; director of special duties, Mrs. Olufunke Ige; the University bursar, Mr. Maumo Jerry Jinadu and Mrs. Adenike Adeyelu.
The palace of the Ayangbure had made every preparation for the arrival of the academic guests and the traditional and honourary chiefs had taken appropriate seats. It was a meeting where education meets tradition for common good of both communities.
The formal meeting began at the reception of the palace where HRM Oba Kabiru Shotobi received his guest, Professor Olumuyiwa. The official introduction and presentation were held at the palace meeting arena under the watch of chiefs and pressmen.
Six Osugbo members, clad in their significant attires with ebony wooden lances, began by matching to the throne of the monarch to pay homage and pronounce blessings on the throne. The traditional chiefs, the Erelus, representatives of the Rademo and Lasunwon Ruling Houses and Baales, who took turn kowtowing before the Ayangbure, also paid homage to the Ayangbure. For the benefit of the visiting team, personal assistant to the Ayangbure, Mr. Adeyeri Ademola made an extensive background introduction of the palace.
The official spokesperson of the university, Mr. Lanre Kuye, who was invited to present his institution’s management team, began by performing the obligatory obeisance of prostrating and greeting the monarch in Yoruba liturgy, Kaabiyesi! Mr. Kuye continued by reminding Oba Shotobi of his prayers two years ago, where the monarch prayed that the Lagos State Polytechnic be transmuted to a full-fledged university. The university spokesman affirmed that Oba Shotobi’s prayers were answered and today, the institution is not only a university but also “the pioneer vice chancellor and his team is here to pay homage to the throne.”
Before the guest of honour was invited to make his remark, a frontline honourary chief and right-hand man of Oba Shotobi, Chief Ayodele Elesho, was given the floor to make welcoming remarks and officially welcome the academics to the palace of the Ayangbure of Ikorodu.
“On behalf of His Royal Majesty, I welcome our new vice chancellor to the palace. The Kabiesi believes that the appointment of Professor Olumuyiwa Omotola Odusanya as the pioneer vice chancellor, is a round peg in a round hole.”
Chief Elesho encouraged the new vice chancellor to endeavour to consult with the Kaabiyesi for the entrenchment of peace and mutual development in the two communities. Elesho clarified that the reason for consultation is not for the monarch to help the vice chancellor rule administratively, but to render helpful advice that will be of benefit to the university and the host community. He also noted that that the monarch will never demand for money or any form of gratification from the management, except for the advancement of his kingdom.
The former commissioner of information cited instance a former rector of the polytechnic that refused to heed royal advice and as a result ended his term in disgrace.
Chief Elesho made a case for indigenes to get favourable treatment in terms of job and admission considerations.
However, he noted that it has to be done in line with the standards and quota system. “In the occasion of promotion and employment, we have many qualified sons and daughters you should consider. Appointment of our qualified children, are primapasi. Please, consider them. The quota system in job place is backed by the law”
He also narrated how the monarch and eminent sons of Ikorodu have been exploring the means of establishing a teaching hospital in Ikorodu, noting that now that a professor of medicine is now the vice chancellor, the process should be further made easy. “We are not talking of a teaching hospital annex, we are hoping for a standard teaching hospital. Presently, our community is on the procedure to establishing a dialysis centre in Ikorodu and the Kabiesi has been on this cause for a while now.
“Building this dialysis centre in Ikorodu would be of great importance for many reasons; the centre will help reduce the high demand for kidney related issues and many people from neighbouring towns of Sagamu, Agbowa, Ofada-Mowe and many other area do come seek medical attention in General Hospital, Ikorodu. The dialysis centre would serve the medical needs of many people from near and far, in Ikorodu.”
While the palace spokesperson handed over the microphone, Professor Olumuyiwa Odusanya was invited to make his remark. The soft-spoken professor of medicine, impeccably dressed in grey suit, gave an eloquent speech by code switching from fluent English to Yoruba languages.
“We heard everything said in the palace today and I must say that we are here today to seek support. I must also say that I am not a boss of LASUSTECH, I was appointed as administrator to manage the affairs of the new university and I will ensure we pursue every means humanly, to achieve our aims.” The professor attracted a round of applause from the audience with his rhetorical presentation. Professor Odusanya added that his administration will continue to seek support from the palace.
The professor’s speech was brief and direct. It gave room for questions from the audience and three random questions were entertained. First to speak during the question and answer session was the publisher of Oriwu Sun newspaper, Chief Monzor Olowosago. He reminded the audience that the end goal of the university is to attain global excellence. “We want our new university to be a first-class institution, the university will only attain this standard when we maintain the culture of merit in the system. Admission of students must be strictly based on merit, hence, I am advocating for a strict standard procedure in the new university system of admission,” Chief Monzor emphasised on the need for applicants to the university to possess the requisite qualifications before they can be considered for admission.
Chief Salu Apesi of Ikorodu, asked the vice chancellor about a request from some indigenes that approached the traditional office seeking for letter to be tendered for admission to the university. According to the traditional chief, some of his neighbours children seeking for admission into the Lagos State University of Science andTechnology, had approached him for a signed document that their parents are indigenes and landowners in Ikorodu.
He explained that he was concerned about the request because the issue of land is a delicate one, which needs to be handled carefully. Hence, he couldn’t state in some of the documents that some of the parents are landowners because such document could be tendered in law court as a claim of land ownership where there was none.
The third question came from another chief who asked if the new university would be operating a sandwich and part time programmes anytime soon. His concern is hinged on the fact that many people seeking university education within may not have time for a fulltime programme.
Following the questions raised, Professor Olumuyiwa Omotola Odusanya, started by making some clarifications on medical terms by correcting the earlier erroneous statement that dialysis centre cares for heart, liver and kidney diseases.
The professor of medicine advised the audience to take preventive measures against kidney related diseases by doing regular exercises, reduce salt intake and reduce intake of excessive meat. The vice chancellor also explained that the Lagos State indigenes are given priority during admissions.
“We do give priority to indigenous applicants for some reasons and we carefully conduct screening exercise to filter out false claims to the state citizenship. We wouldn’t want an outsider to take bursary scheme meant for our children, hence we have to request for their proof of indigenous status. Again, we have a benchmark for cut-off marks for indigenes these are reduced for indigenous applicants.”
On the question of sandwich and part-time programmes, the vice chancellor stated that for now only fulltime programmes approved by the National University Commission (NUC) for the university, will run. He explained to the chiefs that unauthorized programmes are to the detriment of the students, as the certificates will not be honoured. Professor Odusanya concluded by assuring the palace of his cooperation.
Following that was a brief oral presentation by Otunba Segun Ganiyu Abiru, a former Clerk of the Lagos State House of Assembly. He gave a summary of the royal efforts on the fight against delinquent activities like cultism, drug abuse, robbery and many others. He explained that on the request of Oba Shotobi, the Ikorodu Division Peace Initiative Limited (IDPIL/GTE) a security outfit, was established and that more than one hundred and eighty operatives have been employed to maintain peace and order in the division.
“Since the establishment of the joint security forum, brutal cultist attacks have reduced drastically. We also realised that initiation of cultist members has penetrated to our secondary schools and we have taken the step to visit our secondary school to discourage the younger ones from participating in cultism activities.”
He also reminded the university management that the biggest anti-cultist fight lies with them, as campus cultism has been the source of the societal menace.
“We are ready to collaborate with the university management on the war against cultism on campus. Though, the responsibilities of the campus affairs lies in the hands of the vice chancellor as he controls lives of thousands within his territory, we are always ready to work with him,” Otunba Ganiyu Abiru added.
When the royal host, HRM Oba Kabiru Shotobi spoke, he gave thanks to God for the meeting and progressive development in his domain. After a brief Christian song, Oba Shotobi prayed for the new VC and charged the audience to honour and support him in every way possible.
“We have not gotten to the promise land but we are recording success. We prayed for a university and we now have it, we still need help to fix things in the new university and in our community as well. The easiest way to achieve these is by having one of our sons as governor of the state. Epe, Lagos Island, Somolu and other areas have produced civilian governors of this state, except for Ikorodu which is yet to have an indigenous governor.”
Oba Shotobi argued that for the new University to attain the global reputation of excellence, there are a lot of things requiring critical attention. He assured the vice chancellor of full support. The monarch recounted the time he purchased loads of books from the United States and donated all to the then Lagos State Polytechnic, and made arrangements afterwards for the building of a library on the polytechnic campus.
“Then, I made arrangements with some sponsors in the United States to help the polytechnic build a library in Ikorodu campus. Unfortunately, the delay in providing the land within the campus made us lost the opportunity of building that library to a rural community in New Jersey.”
Oba Shotobi enjoined the new vice chancellor to pay attention to the needs of the indigenes and consider their requests. According to him, some of the sons and daughters of the kingdom who learnt of the VC’s visit to his palace have made few requests and they put them into writings. The paramount ruler of Ikorodu Division handed over a white envelope to Professor Olumuyiwa with the comment, “Here is my first assignment to you. We look forward to a favourable response. I will not read the content, it has been packaged for you to read when you get to your office.”
Oba Shotobi again, cautioned the staff of the university against any form of sabotage and enjoined them to work in harmony with the vice chancellor, stating that he expects only progressive reports from the university and not crisis of any kind. He advised the VC’s lieutenants to make helpful suggestions on matters affecting the institution.
Furthermore, in his address, Oba Shotobi also talked about the issue of adjunct staff who have worked for more than five years without considerations for full-time employment.
“Those indigenous adjunct staff who are suitably qualified and have served for more than five years should be considered first whenever fulltime employment are available,” Oba Shotobi appealed.
IKODASS chairman, Mr. Rotimi Erogbogbo gave the vote of thanks. He gave a rundown of how the university began as a college of technology, then a polytechnic and now a University of Technology, while expressing belief that there is something about Ikorodu and institute of technology.
“There is something about science and technology, and it’s glaring that it is all about Ikorodu.”
The IKODASS chairman also added that his organisation has also observed that many contemporary graduates are not employable, therefore, he disclosed that IKODASS has established a human capacity building workshop to help new graduates acquire existential skills after school. He also seized the opportunity of using the forum to solicit the university to lend some of its resource persons to participate in the human capacity building programme billed to commence early next year.
AT ADEBORUWA PALACE
His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa (Oba) Barr. Semiudeen Semiudeen Kasali, the Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, has requested from the newly appointed Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University of Science & Technology (LASUSTECH), Prof. Olumuyiwa Omotola Odusanya, for the presence of the institution in Igbogbo.
The royal father stated that the community has many waterfronts and thereby called for the establishment of Marine Department in his domain.
The request was made when Prof. Odusanya led members of the institution’s management team on a courtesy visit to the Adeboruwa Palace on Wednesday, November 2, 2022.
“I am happy with the way you interfaced with us in Yoruba and not in English despite the fact that you are Professor. This show that you are a highly intelligent scholar. It is important for us to always promote our culture”, Adeboruwa said.
“I have seen in you that you a very calm person, perfect gentleman, reasonable and honourable person.
“All that you have told us are what we are expecting to hear from you and as an honourable person, we believe that you will work towards their execution and make the host communities’ benefit.
“Aremo Segun Ogunlewe has said all that are needed to be said and they are important because that is the true position of things.
“But, I must add that we are expecting the presence of LASUSTECH in Igbogbo in term of programmes for us to benefit directly. It could be an extension of one of your programmes because we have enough waterfronts here.
“We could have Marine Study here and we have enough space here to accommodate such programmes. On our part, we shall cooperate and support you”, Oba Kasali requested.
“We are happy to see you and your team”.
Oba Kasali offered special prayer for the Vice Chancellor and his team wishing them successful tenure.
Prof. Olumiuyiwa Odusanya, speaking earlier, explained that the purpose of the visit to the Adeboruwa palace was to pay homage and seek for the cooperation of the monarch for a successful tenure that would be of great benefit to Ikorodu Division.
“I am sent here as the VC for LASUSTECH by the government now that the institution is now a University and we deemed it necessary to embark on visitation to palaces”, LASUSTECH Vice Chancellor said.
“We are here today to pay homage to His Royal Majesty; we are to ask Kabiyesi to accept us fully and support us to make our tenure a successful one that would be of great benefit to the Ikorodu Division.
The VC, who said that he has been a Doctorate holder for over 35years and Professor for about 15 years, said that he has observed that most communities hosting universities in Nigeria are not developed the way they are supposed to like their counterparts in the America.
“What we want is cooperation between the University and the community to bring about desired progress. We can only do this through cooperation and exchange of ideas”, he explained.
“We thank you for accepting us to the palace to pay homage to the king. Long may the King live”.
He assured the Adeboruwa of consideration for admission for recommended students that meet the admission requirement of the institution.
Aremo Adesegun Ogunlewe, the Aremo of Igbogbo and member of the LASUSTECH Governing Council, said that Ikorodu Division is proud to have University she can call hers.
While stating that Igbogbo, as part of the division, has its own independent traditional institution, Aremo Ogunlewe, who was a former Head of Service in Lagos State, said that the community will be expecting benefit in term of employment and admission for its residents.
“We are happy to have our own University that we can call our own in Ikorodu and we are happy for your visit and commend your decision to visit the palaces in Ikorodu Division on familiarisation tour”, he said.
“In Igbogbo, we still have our own traditional institution intact. This is a community that has been in existence long before the amalgamation of 1914 and whose ancestors originated from Elepe.
“It is an independent community with his own ancestors and culture.
“We will be expecting necessary benefits as one of the host communities from the University and on our part, you can be rest assured of our cooperation and support.
“Kabiyesi is interested in employment for Igbogbo residents; admission for our students and other necessary patronage”, Aremo Ogunlewe said.
The Odofin of Igbogbo, High Chief Tajudeen Alade Duduyemi Onasanya, on behalf of the Adeboruwa and entire Igbogbo community offered special prayer for the VC and his team.
He described the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH) as a great privilege and development for the Ikorodu Division.