Members of the University Community on Monday last week watched their Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kolawole Salako at the institution’s Permanent Site as he presented the Presidential Election result of Lagos State in his capacity as the Collation Officer for the State at the INEC National Collation Centre, Abuja.
Among those who watched Professor Salako in a live telecast monitored by our Bulletin Crew are Principal Officers, the Deputy Registrar, Vice-Chancellor’s Office, Mrs. Toyin Dawodu, the Head of Public Relations, Dr. (Mrs) Linda Onwuka, Professor Sam Wobo, Environmental Officers, Vice-Chancellor’s Office Staff and Staff of the Directorate of Public Relations, among others.
The office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Professor Lateef Sanni temporarily turned to a ‘viewing centre’ where some members of staff converged towards the close of work to watch their Vice-Chancellor present elections result of Lagos State.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor (Mrs.) Morenike Dipeolu was caught beaming with smile as she savoured the joy of her Principal Officer reeling out the result of Lagos State.
The Registrar, Dr. Bola Adekola did not only watch the Vice-Chancellor presenting the result, he was also following the trend of performance intermittently while at the same time treating the files on his table. Other Principal Officers were said to have also monitored the telecast.
For the Head of Public Relations, Dr. (Mrs.) Onwuka, it was another call to duty as she dished out directives to staff to ensure adequate coverage of the presentation of result by the Vice-Chancellor, while the Deputy Registrar, Vice-Chancellor’s Office, Mrs. Dawodu was caught in between watching the telecast and discharging her duties when the Bulletin Crew caught up with her.
The turnout was impressive at the sprawling reception at the entrance of Senate Building as Environmental personnel and other members of staff who were on their way home after closing, and on seeing their Vice-Chancellor on the television sat therein, stopped over to watch him as he presented election result in Lagos State.
Phrases like “see our VC”, “this is great, our VC is the Collation Officer of Lagos State”, “I just hope they gave him adequate security and “As you can see, our VC is up to the task” rented the reception.
Commenting on the engagement of Vice-Chancellor as Lagos State Collation Officer, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Professor Lateef Sanni described the innovation of engaging Vice-Chancellors which was midwifed by former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega as a welcomed development.
According to him, “for elections to be credible, people with credibility, purposeful leadership and dynamism must be saddled with the responsibility and this is why our Vice-Chancellors are round pegs in round holes. They have been tested and proven”.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Professor Lateef Sanni described the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Salako as the Collation Officer for Lagos as a national honour.
He stated that “Lagos is the industrial hub of our nation and FUNAAB is an industrial oriented University. It is a national honour that they made our VC the Collation Officer for Lagos State”.
