The reinstated Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, on Thursday resumed office, thanking President Muhammadu Buhari for insisting on due process being followed in the administration of the institution.
He also had kind words for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN; the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu; the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed; the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola; all the staff unions in the school among others.
The VC, who addressed the workers from the foyer of the Senate Building of the school, said his being returned to office was not by power but by divine intervention.
Ogundipe, who resumed to a rousing welcome by workers of the university, said he saw his recuse from office for about three months as a kind of sabbatical.
He also used the occasion to debunk the rumour that he had compiled a list of who to punish or sack in the university for not supporting him during his travails.
“I thank President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Education Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu, Executive Secretary of NUC, the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, all staff unions, and many people too numerous to mention.
”You have all stood for due process and the matter is not about the University of Lagos, but the university system in Nigeria in general.
“You have invested years of your lives into this university. Let us be united as the issue is not about academic against non-academic staff. Let us work together as we are committed to moving the university forward.
”I sincerely appreciate and thank the Acting VC, she is a thoroughbred, somebody you can rely on. She is what the Yoruba call Omoluabi. ”We will rebrand the university and we will make the university a global brand.”
