By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor
Stepping into the shoes left behind by your predecessors usually comes with a measure of nervousness. The anxiety of ensuring your legs fit into them is one thing; the burden of expectation is another. Are the fresh legs big enough to fit in? Can they carry the shoes?
These were questions that hung on the lips of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) community following the appointment of Prof. Rahamon Adisa Bello as the new vice chancellor of the 50-year-old institution on November 12, 2012.
Striding into the coveted office as the 11th Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG can be quite intimidating. Yet it is a rare opportunity for Bello to prove that it is not so much about the dog in the fight but the fight in the dog. And for the ‘large shoes’, his legs are more than sizeable.
As the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof Bello is rather too familiar with the inner workings, duties and responsibilities of his new portfolio, particularly as he had served in the office of the Vice-Chancellor in an acting capacity since May 12, 2012, following the sudden passing away of his predecessor, Prof. Babatunde Sofoluwe, early this year.
A rounded academic and astute administrator, Bello began what could be described as his nomadic career as a Mechanical Engineering Technician with the Nigerian Tobacco Company (NTC) in 1969, after he graduated from the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in 1974.
After his spell at the Nigerian Tobacco Company, Bello had a brief stint with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources as a Petroleum Engineer.
While many of his ilk would have found themselves lulled into complacency of attractive and remunerative career prospect at the NTC and the Petroleum Resources Ministry, Bello’s unquenchable appetite for knowledge necessitating his calling time on salaried jobs. He proceeded to the University of Waterloo, Canada, where he earned M.A.Sc (1977) and Ph.D (1981) in Chemical Engineering.
Upon his return, he joined the service of the University of Lagos as an Assistant Lecturer in 1977 and rose steadily to the posts of Lecturer II, Lecturer 1 and Senior Lecturer, in 1981, 1982 and 1985 respectively. He was appointed Associate Professor in 1991 and Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1998.
A specialist in Biochemical Engineering Processes, Bello has carried out researches and consultancy in Industrial Biotechnology, as well as offering consultancy and professional services to various organizations, including the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., Elf Petroleum, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Proceng Limited, among others.
A deft player, Bello is not one contented with playing at the domestic league alone, having variously plied his trade with international agencies like the National Project Manager for the UNDP/ILO project on “Strategies for Self-Employment Promotion” between 1991 and 1992.
A ‘hot commodity’ he came to personify at various stages, Bello’s services were also in hot demand in his home state of Ogun. And in 1994, he was appointed from his UNILAG office and made a member of the Ogun State Executive Council as Commissioner for Special Duties; a position he held till 1996.
Prof. Bello was a member of the Central Working Group of Vision 20-2020 and served as alternative Chairman for the Energy and Transportation Sub-section.
A man always in a hurry to run with his vision for the university, he has, since his appointment, hit the ground running by unfolding his lofty agenda for UNILAG, foremost of which is to make the institution the first to be reckoned with in Africa in the next five years. For Bello, time is really of essence and everyone who wants to run with his vision must quickly get on their marks.
Not exactly on a coat tails of his late predecessor, Prof. Sofoluwe, Bello has typified what a team player ought to be by inviting every institution’s stakeholder to join his transformation train and help realise his dream.
An indication that his doors will at all times be opened to all, the Vice-Chancellor, immediately after he was sworn-in, swung into action by holding various consultative meetings with Committee of Provost and Deans of Faculties, academic heads of departments, student faculty executives and all staff unions, where issues ranging from upgrade of academic facilities to new arrangements with several institutions in China and USA, improvement of academic programmes, research, staff welfare and projects in the pipeline were unveiled.
Nothing could be more reassuring. Accordingly, the Vice-Chancellor informed his expectant audience that a unit which will coordinate and promote research activities in the university was in the pipeline. In his words: “In the course of time, the Unit would grow to become a department, coordinating group research proposals, promote end-use of research findings and attract grants for research activities. The drive, he said, is to take the University of Lagos to a comfortable position in the league of top class universities in the world.” Currently, UNILAG reportedly ranks 9th in Africa.
Fazed by what he described as the stifling learning environment in the institution, Bello also assured of an urgent need for a facelift by promising that in a matter of few months, teaching infrastructure would begin to don a new look. As part of the upgrading exercise, each classroom would have interactive ICT board, internet connectivity, air-conditioning and comfortable seats
Matching words with action, he hinted that funds had already been earmarked for the project. He also said the university library would be spared by his transformation train.
Determined to eradicate a seeming class structure existing on the campus, the Vice-Chancellor said in line with the upgrading exercise, more toilet facilities will be provided in all the faculties. He noted that “the use of different toilets by staff and student in the faculties would be eradicated. In its place, it would be just male and female toilets. This, he noted, is intended to create a wholesome responsibility for the maintenance of the toilet facilities in the faculties.
Aware of the university’s limited capabilities, the new Vice-Chancellor is not looking to rest on his oars. Accordingly, a robust synergy and collaboration with local and international institutions is well underway.
Leading the pack of local institutions lending their support to UNILAG is the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which has concluded plans to build a Maritime Institute in the university.
UNILAG was chosen for the project because of its pool of intellectuals, immense contribution to national development, topography and location near the lagoon.
Following on the heels of NIMASA is the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It has set the necessary machinery in motion for the construction of an ultra-modern “Centre of Excellence” project in the university. When completed, the project will include an academic facility and a five-star hostel.
With assured infrastructural transformation, a top-ranking varsity in Africa, a peaceful and conducive academic environment, the University of Lagos would hardly ask for more. But the next five years will define Bello’s place in the institution’s history.
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