UNIOSUN Appoints 45-year-old engineering professor, Bello, As Acting VC

Following the debates surrounding the selection process for the appointment of a substantive vice-chancellor and the expiration of the incumbent’s term of office on Thursday, the authorities of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo, have announced the appointment of a professor of geo-technical engineering, Afeez Bello, as an acting vice-chancellor.

Bello, 45, who until his latest appointment, was the deputy vice-chancellor in charge of administration and development, is expected to resume office on Friday, November 5.

The outgoing vice-chancellor, Labo Popoola, a professor of forest economics, is expected to end his tenure on Thursday and return to the University of Ibadan where he is a serving lecturer.

Announcing the appointment on Wednesday morning, the university’s pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing council, Yusuf Alli, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the appointment became imperative following a subsisting ligation over the selection process.

Alli said the appointment was to avoid a vacuum in the university administration and pledged the commitment of the university management to abide by the verdicts of the court as “a law abiding institution.”

*About the new acting VC*

Born on October 11, 1976, Bello hails from Ilobu, headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State, and attended Ilobu Secondary Commercial Grammar School where he finished in 1993.

The acting vice-chancellor gained admission to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, in 1995 where he studied Civil Engineering. He bagged his Master’s certificate in Civil Engineering from the University of Ibadan in 2005 and later proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, where he bagged his PhD in Civil Engineering in the year 2010.

Bello began his lecturing career in 2007 and has taught in various institutions including his alma mater, where he started out.