Lagos State University (LASU) Vice Chancellor Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello has stated that her administration will not be complacent despite its achievements so far. With a year left in office, she said the institution is poised for more feats under her leadership. She spoke to reporters. DAMOLA KOLA-DARE was there.
Commitment pivotal to new varsity status
“I am very happy that LASU has the status that everybody is proud of; it is the most sought after university in Nigeria. In the last UTME, we had more than 70,000 applicants, who chose Lagos State University as their first choice. This is about 20,000 more than the university that was the second most sought after. We have come this far not only as the most sought after but also as the most digitally advanced state university in this country. We are the second best in public universities in the country, according to TIMES Higher Education Rankings of 2024.
“We already have that target of being the best in West Africa, in terms of environment, green metrics. All that is happening in LASU is due to the commitment and intentionality of the management, staff, students, and all stakeholders – not excluding our Visitor, who has given us a 100 per cent support to make sure that there is peace and progress in this university. LASU is a very peaceful environment; we have industrial harmony with our staff and student union, which has helped us to maintain a regular calendar.
“Our students come in and graduate at the appropriate time. We have not closed down this university for any industrial action and property, staff and students are safe. To crown it all, LASU is now a residential university; that has also taken enrolment to that high level because parents are assured that their wards are in safe hands and are within the university environment. LASU is the most sought after university in Nigeria now because we have created an enabling environment – an environment for peace, academic excellence and job satisfaction. There was a time when staff did not want their children to come to LASU. When I came in, the enrollment was about 3,000 but because of the peaceful environment, our enrolment is about 13,000. I had this vision, which every staff member is running with. They know where we are going; and everybody is involved. It is a collective responsibility and a collective achievement and I am very happy and proud of my staff and students. We have done very well and I want to thank our Visitor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for the constant support given to this university.
We are poised to go top on TIMES Universities Ranking
“We set up a ranking committee and we have identified all the criteria for the TIMES Higher Education Ranking for Universities and we are very intentional and purposed to being the first. It is part of our targets that by the time I finish my five-year tenure as Vice Chancellor next year, Lagos State University will be the best in West Africa, not only in Nigeria, and we are moving towards that. And my successor should even be able to aim higher. For public universities, we are number two now but we are waiting for the 2025 ranking. Let the ranking come out and we will know where we are. We are very positive that we would have moved up the ladder.”
Varsity tech-compliant, processes digitalised
“AI is being incorporated into teaching and learning in LASU. At the last Senate session, we mandated a committee to bring up the AI policy so that it would be approved, which would make us more focused on being an AI-driven university. We encourage students to use AI – but they have to use it to improve their learning. We also encourage staff members to use AI. What we want is that AI will be a template to improve. You can ask AI whatever you want and you must be intentional about it.
“I am hoping that we will subscribe to ChatGPT Pro where you can have personalised submissions. ChatGPT Pro is a template that you can use for whatever you want to do and we will use it to teach and assess our students. Also, our students will use it to report to us and the scoring will be there. That is where we are going and before I finish my tenure, we will be there. There is Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, LASU, which is very key in driving the whole thing. Under that faculty, we have five departments – Artificial Intelligence is one of them. Regarding being a digitally advanced university, most of our processes in this university have been digitalised – from admission to graduation. We have reduced face-to-face contact to curb influences and corruption. Once your child has been offered admission, the clearance and payments are done online.
“Lectures are even done online. We have blended learning in LASU. We have adopted a virtual learning system to teach. So, every lecturer is supposed to teach with this learning system. And when the class is full, there is no need to rush as a student, just log on and join the class online. Your attendance will be taken and you will not miss any class. Our staff processes have also been digitalised – bursary, payments, collection, registry, appointments, promotion, leave application, and annual performance. Just upload your Curriculum Vitae, take your examinations and we send the papers of our would-be professors to assessors online and they send it back to us. I assess the reports and if they are positive, all I have to do is to approve and it goes to the registry – all online. The registry processes the papers and invites them for an interview – it is only the interview that is face-to-face. So, the entire process, by the time I finish my tenure as VC, will be digitalised.”
How we tackled cultism, others
“It is important to have a good relationship with your neighbours. When I came in, I visited all our hosting communities, Obas and pleaded with them that they must support me by ensuring that our students in their communities are safe. Most of the cultists are outside the campus and they also have a way of getting involved with the culture of the environment. So, we had to stem that tide from the root. And coming into the university, we appealed to the students and staff. They filled an anti-cult code. So, if anything happens, we have evidence that you promised that you are not into cult activities. It wasn’t forced; there were some who refused to sign but we had to do a lot of advocacy, encourage them to sign. Student Union leaders were screened; we made sure they were not cultists. Our security unit was very helpful. Our prayers to God were also helpful.”
LASU Innovation Hub game-changer
“We are very much different because we are very intentional. We solve problems, which is why we have an Innovation hub. The Innovation hub is there for students and staff to explore. You look at problems in society and design a solution to it. We also have the entrepreneurship unit. Apart from general entrepreneurship we do at the centre, every department has an entrepreneurship course –ENT 1000. The ENT 1000 does not have any unit but it is compulsory. You cannot graduate from this university if you don’t pass it. We bring in experts from the industry –successful entrepreneurs in different fields – to teach and they do it pro bono. This is so that when students graduate, they can be job employers not seekers. Apart from that, we have well-equipped laboratories, computer centres. We have just built a workshop for environmental sciences and we are hoping to equip it.”
Milestones: accreditation, new faculties, courses
“When I came in, I had a vision which was to make LASU the best university in West Africa – with the finest and highest level of academic research standards. Within these four years, I have achieved that. I had six strategic goals. I wanted to ensure that academic and professional programmes are accredited and those accredited would remain accredited. When I came in, we won full accreditation for all our professional and academic courses. And we are ready for another round of accreditation before I leave office. When I came in, we established three new faculties: Environmental Sciences, Pharmacy, and Allied Health Sciences. We also had a School of Library and Archival Information Sciences and several centres.
“It was surprising to many that LASU didn’t have Pharmacy before now. And they are not just getting B.Pharm, they are getting D.Pharm (Doctor of Pharmacy). We also have Physiotherapy under Allied Health Faculty. We also have Medical Laboratory Sciences and Science Laboratory Technology and several others. We have the Centre for Actualisation of Sustainable Development Goals; Centre for Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. We are very intentional about achieving the SDGs within our own space. We have zero-tolerance to sexual harassment and gender-based violence. You don’t hear about gang raping in this university and no staff can harass any student, except there is a mutual agreement. We also have a Centre for Peace and Security Studies. We have involved several security people who have come to get diplomas and higher degrees. There is also the programme for disability which is targeted at inclusivity. We are inclusive for people with physical, mental, colour disability. With the Office of Disability, they are the first point of call for people with any form of disability. We are planning to have a resource centre for them so that all their needs would be met.
“We have a Special Education Unit and for every activity in this university, we have people doing the sign language expression. We are looking at making the university a research, innovation development hub for Lagos State and national development. That is why we have our innovation hub and Lagos State is also building another innovation hub for us. We have so many grants coming into the university.
“Our staff’s research papers are also well-referenced all over the world. We also encourage our staff to do competitive research where the Senate gives a N5m grant for the best proposal. We want to ensure that infrastructural facilities are improved and readily available for seamless performance of administrative and academic duties. You see buildings all over the place; we have light, good roads, hospitals and others.
“We have to improve the Internally Generated Revenue with the aim of achieving financial sustainability of the university. Our IGR has improved tremendously. We also have an agenda to promote welfare of staff and students. Staff get their promotion as and when due. Nobody is hiding their file in the drawer because everything is digital. We give them good furniture in their offices. Compare LASU staff offices with those of other universities and you’ll see the difference. We never owe salaries; we pay our salaries between the 21st and 23rd of every month.
“I also promised to promote participation in sports and recreational activities. This year, our female soccer team will be representing Africa in China in the World Students Universities Games. LASU can host the entire world in sports games. We also built the new staff club to help staff to relax. After work, they can relax and share ideas. We have also built the biggest Student Union Building in Africa.”
