Emmanuel Ukudolo
January 05, 2015 – Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has approved 70 years as mandatory retirement age for professors lecturing at the Lagos State University, (LASU).
The governor also gave approval for students of the university who hitherto reside off campus to live within the school in Iba, Lagos, Nigeria. All these changes came via the LASU (Amendment) Bill 2015, which also approved five-year single term for Vice Chancellor of the school.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, had been in a running battle with the former Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa over retirement age of professors and five year single tenure for Vice Chancellor, among others.
Signing the bill into law, Ambode said the amendment law is aimed at raising the standard of LASU to an enviable position adding that it has been the desire of government to build a LASU that would produce better students, stressing that changes would begin to happen in the next few years.
In his remarks at the event, Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni said the law was amended to address the acrimonies that arose during the tenure of Prof. Obafunwa as Vice Chancellor of the school. He said the major reform is approving five-year single term for the Vice Chancellor of the school in order to prevent the crisis often encountered when the Vice Chancellor’s position runs for two terms.
According to him, another major reform is making LASU a residential campus, while the retirement age of professors of the institution would now be 70 years instead of the usual 65 years. He said changing the status of the school would help in mitigating incessant clashes between students of the school and Iba residents.
It is not clear when the changes will take off.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde had in November, 2015 said the LASU (Amendment) Bill 2015 was meant to serve as an improvement over the two previous amendments in 1990 and 1992 with the aim of finding lasting solution to the challenges that have plagued the state-owned institution in recent years.
“The bill is proposing to amend certain sections of the Law to meet current realities in line with best practices. It seeks to review the exercise of general supervision over discipline in the university imposed on the Vice-Chancellor and to propose a single term of five years for the institution’s Vice-Chancellor. It seeks an amendment to Section 36(1) and (2) of the Law which deals with admission policy to place the responsibility of determining the minimum admission requirement on the Senate of the university,” he said.
