The immediate past Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Professor Labode Popoola has listed some of his achievements while in office.
He emphasised that his performance can mainly be measured by the education his employers and taxpayers in Osun State through whom he got the mandate to manage the affairs of the university between November 2016 and November 2021.
The don stated this among many other things while on the second episode of the Education Podcast released on Sunday by EduCeleb.
Popoola, whose tenure in office ended on 4th November believes that he had achieved up to ninety percent of the documented vision and mission statements in mind for the multicampus university’s management.
“I’ve put together my account of stewardship and virtually everything I stated in that vision and mission statement has been taken care of,” he added.
Among his achievements listed are the provision of “state of the art laboratories” which he said were even better than the ones he promised.
Salaries paid on 25th of every month
He also takes pride in the fact that UNIOSUN now has a stable academic calendar compared with many public universities around the country.
In terms of staff welfare, he said that members of staff have enjoying their promotion and other benefits as at when due. According to him, salaries of staff are paid on the 25th of every month.
Other achievements listed are the renewal of the environment around the campuses of the university, the conversion of the university into residential ones with hostels provided for the first time and the creation of the students’ union.
Sacrifices
While speaking against the crises in leadership in universities, he noted that such was mainly an opportunity to serve the community.
He said that even as his letter of appointment guaranteed him the privilege of travelling business class, he never did as he understood that the university he headed was “resource-poor”.
“For the five years that I was in that university, I never traveled business-class because I know that the university is resource-poor.”
He said the same fund meant for such would rather be used to accomodate up to five other people to accompany him.
Popoola who has since returned to the University of Ibadan added that he never saw the need to have an escort either.
Challenges
The professor of forest economics and sustainable development at the University of Ibadan admitted that he faced challenges with some members of staff who felt they were above the law.
He noted particularly his experience with career unionists who have continued to use staff unions in their university as “parallel management” for personal interests.
He however revealed that he scaled through such challenges posed against him through the Osun State House of Assembly and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which cleared him of any wrongdoing.
The Education Podcast is an initiative of EduCeleb geared to engaging stakeholders on various matters that affect the education sector. Fresh episodes are released weekly through YouTube, Facebook and other channels.
EduCeleb is a media platform operating from Nigeria dedicated to reporting accurate and reliable information about the education sector.
Watch the full epidode of the podcast featuring Popoola below.
