LASU Senate Honours Olatunji-Bello, Celebrates Five-Year Legacy of Transformation
LASU Senate Honours Olatunji-Bello, Celebrates Five-Year Legacy of Transformation
The Lagos State University (LASU) Senate has honoured the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Distinguished Professor Ibiyemi Ibilola Olatunji-Bello, mni, NPOM, describing her five-year tenure as a period of remarkable academic growth, institutional transformation and renewed global visibility for the university.
The commendation came on Thursday, August 27, 2026, during a valedictory session held in her honour at the 332nd Statutory Senate Meeting at the Senate Chamber of the Babatunde Raji Fashola Building, LASU Main Campus, Ojo.
The session brought together the university’s Principal Officers, members of Senate and other academic leaders who gathered to reflect on the achievements of the administration as Professor Olatunji-Bello prepares to leave office at the expiration of her single, non-renewable five-year tenure on September 19, 2026.
Professor Olatunji-Bello was appointed the university’s ninth substantive Vice-Chancellor in September 2021 by the Visitor to the University and Governor of Lagos State, following the recommendation of the 11th Governing Council. She assumed office on September 20, 2021.
Presenting an overview of her tenure, the Registrar of the university, Mr Emmanuel A. Fanu, said Professor Olatunji-Bello presided over 55 statutory Senate meetings, beginning with her inaugural session on October 20, 2021, alongside several extraordinary meetings.
He also noted that her administration witnessed the delivery of 47 inaugural lectures, underscoring the university’s sustained commitment to scholarship, intellectual engagement and academic excellence.
In her valedictory address, Professor Olatunji-Bello expressed gratitude to God, the Lagos State Government, the Governing Council, Senate, management, staff, students and other stakeholders for their support throughout her tenure.
She attributed the achievements recorded under her administration to collective leadership and teamwork, stressing that sustainable institutional progress could only be achieved when members of the university community worked together toward a common vision.
Among the milestones highlighted by the outgoing Vice-Chancellor were the systematic accreditation of academic programmes, stronger quality assurance mechanisms, expansion of degree offerings, increased research and innovation, infrastructure development, improved financial sustainability and enhanced welfare for staff and students.
She also cited the establishment of LASU as a TETFund Centre of Excellence and the promotion of 127 academic staff to the rank of Professor as significant achievements of her administration.
Professor Olatunji-Bello said her administration deliberately pursued academic programmes that responded to emerging professional and societal demands, while strengthening quality assurance to position LASU for greater competitiveness.
But beyond the physical and academic developments, she urged the university community to protect the institution’s values and sustain the gains recorded during her tenure.
“While administrations may change, LASU must remain,” she stressed.
The Vice-Chancellor called on members of Senate and future administrators to place the long-term interests of the university above individual considerations, saying institutional continuity remained critical to the sustained growth of LASU.
Goodwill messages followed from members of Senate, who praised Professor Olatunji-Bello for her vision, courage, humility, administrative capacity and motherly approach to leadership.
They described her tenure as one characterised by decisive leadership, academic development and a commitment to the welfare of the university community.
Delivering the vote of thanks on behalf of Senate, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Oseni Taiwo Afisi, FSPSP, MCIOD, said the occasion was more than a farewell to the Chairman of Senate, describing it as a celebration of an enduring institutional legacy.
“Today, we are not merely marking the conclusion of your tenure as Chairman of Senate; we are celebrating a lasting transformation,” Afisi said.
According to him, the outgoing Vice-Chancellor strengthened academic programmes, expanded research output and institutionalised quality assurance, while demonstrating that leadership was fundamentally about service.
He added that Professor Olatunji-Bello would leave LASU “significantly stronger, better positioned, and globally respected.”
As her tenure draws to a close, the university is now preparing for a new chapter. Senate noted that its 334th Statutory Meeting scheduled for September 2026 will usher in the transition to a new administrative era following the expiration of Professor Olatunji-Bello’s tenure on September 19.
After five years at the helm, Professor Olatunji-Bello leaves behind a legacy spanning academic excellence, accreditation, research and innovation, infrastructure renewal, institutional governance and staff and student welfare.
For LASU, her departure marks not only the end of an administration, but the beginning of another test: how to preserve, consolidate and build upon the gains of the past five years as the university enters its next phase of leadership.
