Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola (nee Mabogunje), a Nigerian Professor of medical microbiology has emerged as the first female Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos.
She specializes in disease control, particularly HIV/AIDS. Ogunsola was provost of College of Medicine, University of Lagos and is reputed as being the first woman to occupy the position. She was also the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Development Services) of the institution between 2017 and 2021. She was elected as the acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos on 24 August 2020, by the University’s Senate.
Ogunsola was raised in the University of Ibadan where her father, Akin Mabogunje lectured. As a child, she mimicked medical practitioners by using dolls as patients, while offering medical care to them. She attended Queen’s College, Lagos.
Born in 1958, she obtained her first degree from the University of Ife, an MSc in Medical Microbiology with Distinction, and a Diploma in Biomedical Techniques from the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, a PhD in Medical Microbiology, amongst others.
Ogunsola was Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos for a short period in 2020 when the University was plunged into crisis as a result of the removal of the Vice Chancellor by the University Council. She was also the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Development Services) of the University, a position she previously occupied before ascending to the institution’s Acting Vice Chancellorship.
Prior to being the deputy vice chancellor, she was the provost of College of Medicine, University of Lagos. Her research areas have been centered on the regulation and management of viral diseases, particularly HIV. She is the principal investigator at AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN) at University of Lagos. She has also been the chairman of Infection Control Committee of Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Additionally, she is the chairman of the National Association of Colleges of Medicine in Nigeria.
In 2018, she expressed concern on disease prevention and control in Nigeria. She identified poor hygiene and overuse of antibiotics as practices that foster antimicrobial-drug resistance. Providing a solution, she maintained that “sustained Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) infrastructure and programs should be built around a set of core components which includes guidelines, training, surveillance, multimodal strategies for implementing IPC, monitoring and evaluation among others.”
She was a founding member of the Nigerian Society for Infection control in 1998 and is also a member of the Global Infection Prevention and control Network.
A fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, West African College of Physicians, National Postgraduate Medical College in Pathology, Nigerian Academy of Science, and Foundation Fellow of both the Nigerian Academy of Medicine and the Academy of Medicine Specialties.
She was elected as the acting vice chancellor of University of Lagos on August 24, 2020, by the university’s senate following a crisis between the pro-chancellor, Mr. Wale Babalakin and the vice-chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe. She became the first woman to be vice-chancellor in the university’s history.
She also served as a governing council member for three terms, ranking as the only one with a such number of years in the governing council among the contenders.
Mrs Ogunsola is said to have received various prestigious awards from both local and international bodies and has one hundred and forty-two (142) publications in reputable academic journals and has co-authored four (4) books.
She has successfully supervised or co-supervised eight doctoral students and 61 master’s students.
Others who contested are:
1. Timothy Nubi, a Professor of Estate Management and currently the director, University of Lagos Research Management Office.
2. Imran Smith, a Professor of Private and Property Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has been a Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London since 2010.
3. Abayomi Akinyeye obtained his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in History in 1981, 1985 and 1991 respectively, at the University of Lagos. He joined the university’s Department of History and rose through the ranks to become a professor in 2005.
4. Prof Matthew Ilori obtained his degrees, Bachelor of Science in Biology, Master of Philosophy in Microbiology and Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology at the University of Lagos in 1984, 1990 and 1998 respectively.
5. Prof Adedotun Adekunle was born on 9 February 1963 and bagged a B.Sc (Hons) in Botany from the University of Lagos in 1986. He also bagged his M.Sc. in Botany and PhD in Botany from the university in 1988 and 1996 respectively.
6. Prof Rufus Ayodeji Olowe, was a chairman of the UNILAG chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, and a former head of the Department of Finance, Faculty of Management Services, on the campus.
