Ambode okays five-year single-term for LASU VC, on-campus residency

Five days after its approval by the Lagos State House of Assembly, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday approved the regime of five-year single-term for Vice-Chancellors of the Lagos State University (LASU).

Ambode, by endorsing the amendment version of the law governing the state-own school, also approved the construction of on-campus residency for the students and a 70-year retirement age for lecturers.

These new provisions were part of recommendations of the House to put an end to protracted crisis in the 33-year-old tertiary institution.

Signing the LASU amendment bill 2015 into law, Ambode said his desire was to see a LASU that could compete favourably with other universities across the world.

His words: “We want a LASU that would often churn out professionals who will within few years be captains of industries and leaders of the country,” he said.

Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa who was represented by his deputy, Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, said that the law, as amended, would help address the acrimony that had bedeviled the institution for several years.

Eshinlokun-Sanni lamented that the tenure of the Vice Chancellor had often led to confrontation between the VC and the staff of the institution, saying “but with this law, the VC will spend five years single-term in office.”

He said: “Also included in the new law is the permit to live within the campus. Previously, students were not allowed to do this. This often led to confrontation between the students and the host communities. This will address all that.”

Commissioner for Information, Steve Ayorinde, added that the LASU Amendment would serve as an improvement over the two previous amendments in 1990 and 1992.

Ayorinde said that it was done with the aim of finding a lasting solution to the challenges that had plagued the state-owned institution in recent years.
He added that, “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.