Nine professors shortlisted for LASU VC contest

Nine out of 14 professors have been shortlisted to contest for the post of the Vice-Chancellor at the Lagos State University. A competent source, who pleaded anonymity at the University’s Registrars office, made the disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Lagos. The source said that 14 professors had applied for the position within the six weeks of the advertisement. “Nine were shortlisted after several considerations of their qualifications and pre- requisites for absorption,” the source said. The source noted that among the five candidates who were not shortlisted was the immediate former Vice-Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa, whose tenure ended on October 31. According to the source, the candidates who were not shortlisted do not possess a PhD certificate, while others had not spent up to 10 years as professors. “Although the advertisement had outlined that the professorship of the candidates must have lasted seven years, it was extended to 10 years during the screening as it applies in federal universities,” it added. The source said that while six of the shortlisted professors were from LASU, the other three were from outside the institution. It named the shortlisted professors as Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof. Abolade Adeniji; Former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Senna Bakre; and Prof. Olatunji Bello, Lagos State University College of Medicine. Others are Prof. Nurudeen Olasupo, Department of Microbiology, Prof. Hamidu Sanni of the Islamic Studies Department and Prof. Babajide Elemo, Science Faculty. The professors from outside LASU are a professor from Texas, U.S., simply identified as Oki, Prof. S.A. Tella, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun, and a former LASU staff now in the University of Lagos, Prof. Lanre Fagbohun. The source also said that the interview for the shortlisted candidates had been scheduled to hold on December 7 at LASUCOM, Ikeja. NAN reports that the post of the Vice-Chancellor at LASU had been vacant, following the expiration of the tenure of the former, Obafunwa on October 31.