…Promises promotion, conducive working environment
From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU) Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, has assured the university community under her care that her administration remains committed to their wellbeing.
Prof. Olatunji-Bello, made the disclosure at the New Year Inter-Faith Prayer Programme held on the Main Campus at Ojo, on Tuesday, 3rd January, 2023.
The Vice Chancellor said “This administration remains committed to your wellbeing. By the grace of God and as available resources permit, be rest assured that you will get what is due to you without first having to agitate for it. In addition, we shall ensure that you have a conducive working environment and be promoted as and when due. As many of you know, promotion interviews for eligible members of staff have been held in the last two weeks. The timely action of these promotion cases just speaks volume of our commitment to reward hardwork. This has been the case since the inception of this administration.”
The Vice Chancellor stated that the prayer session demonstrated the institution’s desire to give God the honour and adoration, adding that it is a testimony of their submission to God. “The prayer session demonstrates our desire to give God the honour and adoration due to him as the author and source of our success as individuals and as an institution. It is against this backdrop that we had the first edition of this Inter-Faith New Year prayer in January 2022. Now in its second edition, this programme is a testimony of our submission to God whose hand, we commit the new year in our hope that the year’s journey will be successful as we take another step in the fulfilment of our vision to be the best University in West Africa.
“This New Year prayer also offers us an opportunity to beseech with God to strengthen the bond of love and unity among people of all faiths in the university, engender harmony in LASU community, and create a sense of common vision and purpose among staff and students. I strongly believe where there is love and unity, there is peace and development and that is the kind of University we aspire to be,” Olatunji-Bello asserted.
The Vice Chancellor used the opportunity offered by the prayer session to appeal to all stakeholders in the university to embrace peace “I therefore encourage everyone to embrace peace and love one another as the holy books admonished. Before God we are one and we are equal; there is no rich or poor, male or female, white or black. Therefore, I advise you to forgive one another, be kind to one another and look out for one another. When we take care of these little things, we can achieve a whole lot together.
“In addition, I urge you to develop a strong work ethics and to be diligent and committed to duties that have been entrusted to your care. We cannot as an institution condone lateness to work, laziness, lackadaisical attitude or tolerate indifference to our jobs and expect things to get better. There is a saying that “bi aba se se ise onise la se ma se ti ara eni” meaning “the way you treat other people’s work is the way you would treat yours.” I want to implore you all not to relent in the discharge of your duties on the pretext that it is a government’s work. The law of life is “what a man sows, he would reap,” Prof. Olatunji-Bello stated.
The V-C commended the university community for their great efforts and cooperation in ensuring that LASU emerged the best University in West Africa in the UI Greenmetrics Global ranking in 2022. “Last year, through your support, we emerged as the best University in West Africa in the UI Greenmetrics Global ranking. Once again, while I thank you for your part in this, I will like to state that we are not there yet. Our aim is to be the best on other ranking platforms and that cannot be achieved without your active collaboration. I especially urge our academic staff to embrace this vision by publishing their research online in reputable journals and websites.
“Academics are also enjoined to enhance their visibility by hoisting their works on the University’s website, so as to strengthen the profile of LASU as a research-focused institution. I must also advise our colleagues to eschew unwholesome practices and lukewarm attitude that affect the quality of service delivery and to be eager to provide relevant data to department or division when requested for ranking purposes. I urge you to imbibe the value of teamwork in the discharge of your duties whenever the need arises, play your part in making LASU the very best. This is the least you can do for this institution,” she stated.
In attendance at the prayer session were the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adenike Boyo; University Registrar, Mr. Emmanuel Fanu; University Bursar, Mr. Said Babatunde Olayinka; University Librarian, Dr. Emmanuel Layi Adebayo;
The Chaplain and the Chief Imam of the great University; Deans and Directors, Professors and Heads of Departments, Academic and Non-Academic Staff, the World Class Students, among others.
