Prof. Folasade Ogunsola has been elected as the Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, UNILAG.
She was elected among 167 professors at the Senate meeting, who voted to find replacement for the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olutoyin Ogundipe who was asked to step down as the Federal Government inaugurated a panel to look into the crisis rocking the institution.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development Services) polled 135 votes compared to Prof. Ben Oghojafor’s 31 votes.
It was gathered one vote was declared void.
Ogunsola, born in 1958, is a Nigerian professor of medical microbiology. She specialises in disease control, particularly HIV/AIDS. Ogunsola is also the immediate past provost of College of Medicine, University of Lagos and is reputed as being the first woman to occupy the position.
She obtained her first degree from University of Ife. She got a master’s degree from College of Medicine, University of Lagos, then proceeded for her doctorate at University of Wales between 1992–97.
Ogunsola 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.” Speaking during a session with the media, she explained that the solution to reducing the 58% unemployment rate was for Nigerian graduates to begin innovating ideas that will enhance human life. She also noted that knowledge in itself isn’t sufficient, but its application in an appropriate manner to better mankind and enhance livelihood of others is what youths should be concerned about.
– Parrot Nigeria.