Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, Wife Lagos Commissioner, Appointed New LASU Vice Chancellor

By Akinwale Kasali

Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, wife of the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, has been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University,  LASU.

The Professor of Physiology would be the Ninth Vice Chancellor of the  Citadel, and the second female to occupy the coveted seat of the Lagos State Government owned tertiary institution.

Before her appointment as the new VC of the institution, she was the Acting Vice-Chancellor.

The 57-year-old academician is the wife of the former Secretary to the State Government of Lagos under former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s Government before he was appointed a Commissioner for the second time under the current administration.

She was born on April 23, 1964, in Lagos.

Her appointment was announced in a statement by the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, titled, ‘Sanwo-Olu approves appointment of Vice Chancellor for LASU’, on Thursday.

“Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola-Sanwo-Olu has approved the appointment of Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello as the 9th substantive Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University.

“Professor Olatunji-Bello was appointed following recommendation by the Joint Committee of Council and Senate of LASU in accordance with the LASU Law, Cap 169 Vol 7, Laws of Lagos State.

“Prof. Olatunji-Bello as well as two other candidates, Professor Omotayo R. Awofolu and Professor Senapon Bakare, were recommended for the position in order of ranking respectively.

“The process of selecting a substantive Vice-Chancellor for LASU commenced with advertisements for the vacant position in three National dailies on Friday, July 30th and Friday 13th August, 2021 respectively.

“The tenure of the 8th substantive Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Olanrewaju Adigun Fagbohun, lapsed on January 11, 2021,” the statement read in part.

She assumed duty as the First Professor of Physiology in LASU College of Medicine on the 2nd of October 2007 after rising through the ranks from Assistant Lecturer (1988 to 1991) to Associate Professor in 2005 at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba.

In Year 2012,  Olatunji-Bello attended the Course 34 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, the highest policy advisory body of the Federal Government, as a nominee of the National Universities Commission.

A member of the National Institute (mni), Olatunji-Bello holds a Fellowship Award of the Physiological Society of Nigeria and was also appointed a Fellow of the Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Mitigation in the year 2019.