By Dideolu Awofoju
The issue surrounding the appointment of the 9th Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University is becoming very interesting. It appears that some group of interested parties, especially the so-called LASU Liberators’ are uncomfortable with the thoughtful procedure being applied by the Executive Governor of Lagos State and Visitor to Lagos State University, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, in accordance with the powers conferred on him by the provisions of Section 23 of the Lagos State University Law, Ch. L69 Vol. 7, Laws of Lagos State, 2015, to constitute a Special Visitation Panel to Lagos State University on the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor in order to attend to the numerous complaints and petitions against the appointment process.
Rather than wait for the outcome of the Government’s “White Paper” following the submission of their report by the Special Visitation Panel, these group of people have become jittery and unsettled with the flurry of publications in the media in anticipation of a supposed negative outcome against their expectations.
To this day, no member of the public has any idea of the content of the report. The Governor seems to be keeping it closely to his chest. However, owing to lack of information of its content, the so-called LASU Liberators have been instigating some other groups, particularly some section of the LASU Alumni Body and some individuals at the Lagos State University College of Medicine who are themselves holders of Medical Fellowship but without PhDs, to speculate and publish unwarranted stories about the possible outcome, to which everyone in Lagos State is patiently anticipating.
The so-called LASU Liberators consist of a group of Professors with unhidden lust for power, whose interest is to ensure that they remain in the corridor of power in LASU, and whose agenda is to maintain the culture of impunity, disregard for academic and administrative procedures that pervaded LASU during the Lanre Fagbohun administration.
The three prominent figures of the Liberators, Prof. Adeleke Fakoya, Prof. Biodun Akinpelu and Prof. Sola Fosudo have shown support for Fagbohun and Ninalowo’s antics at imposing a preferred candidate as LASU Vice-Chancellor because of continued cover-ups Fagbogun gave for their alleged misconducts.
Adeleke Fakoya was accused of plagiarism, with the academic papers with which he used in becoming a Professor said to have been primarily plagiarized. It was alleged that 93% of the materials in one of his published texts (Resources on Linguistics, 2004) was plagiarized before he was promoted to the position of Professor in 2013. Despite repeated letters to Fagbohun about Fakoya’s plagiarism, Fagbohun turned a blind eye. This is what makes Fakoya jittery about a possible change in status quo.
Prof. Abiodun Akinpelu is not new to scandals in LASU. Akinpelu who has not attended classes in the last six years in LASU allegedly lied about a work experience at the University of Ilorin, which led to his direct employment to Lecturer I in LASU. The discovery of this lie resulted into his facing the University’s Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee for several years. The matter was dropped at the intervention of some eminent people.
Akinpelu also allegedly had an affair with a female staff of the Faculty of Education. Threats and bullying were involved in the matter. There was also the allegation of using LASU GNS Centre, to which he is Director, to secure a contract in Abuja said to have been swept under the carpet by Fagbohun. Akinpelu fears that a possible change in status quo would open up his tenure at the Centre to critical scrutiny.
Prof. Sola Fosudo is merely a “follow-follow” of Fakoya. He is indebted to Fakoya for being the only academic staff whose promotion was processed while Fakoya was Dean of Arts in 2016-2018, a tenure which is considered the worst in the administrative history of Faculty of Arts. Even as current Director of LASU Ventures, Fakoya has brought no meaningful impact or revenue to the table. Just as Fakoya has a penchant for dropping names of people he supposedly knows in government, just as how he would lie about his upcoming meeting with the Commissioner of Education or even the Governor, Fosudo is no different.
The fear that a non-Fagbohun/Ninalowo candidate will sweep the Liberators away like a tsunami from the positions that they tightly hold in the Fagbohun/Oke administration is the reason they are jabbing all about town, instigating everyone against the “White Paper”, which is likely or unlikely (no one knows) to bring about a radical departure from the norm that they are used to.
For the Medical Fellows, it is imperative that the public is further enlightened about the efforts of those individuals with Medical Fellowships without the PhD degrees in their fruitless attempts at justifying why they do not require a PhD to become Vice-Chancellor. This enlightenment is important given the false information in the gale of sponsored publications lately.
1. It has been in the news for a very long time that the NUC had made its position clear that all University Teachers must possess the Ph.D degree in their respective fields. Aside the Medical Profession that is currently in the news in this regard, Law had been affected in the past. A moratorium of five (5) years was granted all Law teachers then to acquire the Ph.D degree. It is common knowledge that the immediate past VC of LASU, Prof. Olanrewaju Adigun Fagbohun, was amongst the Law teachers who complied with the directives of NUC to acquire a Ph.D degree (This example is without prejudice to issues surrounding the date on Fagbohun’s PhD certificate in juxtaposition to his appointment as Professor.) The same five (5)-year moratorium has now been granted to all the Lecturer/Consultants, to acquire the Ph.D degree or else it will affect their career advancement.
How did the proponents of Medical Fellowship as a substitute or an approved alternative to Ph.D degree or its equivalence to Ph.D degree come about this position when the moratorium granted will expire in 2025? To give effect to the determination of the NUC to implement this directive, a circular was issued by the NUC to the universities on Postgraduate Training in Clinical Sciences in 2020. The circular specified amongst other things, the duration of the programme, structure of the programme/graduation requirements, and admission requirements which makes Fellowship as one of the requirements for qualification to pursue the proposed Ph.D degree programme in Clinical Sciences through one of the available routes.
2. Again, in the recent pronouncement of the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, he declared that Fellowship is not a substitute for Ph.D. The message is very clear. In his words, Prof. Rasheed said: “…while fellowship is the highest professional qualifications for professionals in any non-academic organization, Ph.D is the highest academic degree in the university anywhere in the world”. He also said that “Having a fellowship is good but if you want to engage in teaching and research in the university system, you must not downplay pursuit of a Ph.D; you cannot even compare your research in doing Ph.D with your professional or fellowship experiences”. He also stated that argument over the superiority of Ph.D over professional fellowship is tantamount to a waste of time and that NUC will not encourage fellowship of any professional bodies or organization as a substitute for a Ph.D degree.
If the Medical Fellowship holders are really excluded from those the piece of advice is directed, why then is the need for a moratorium for all Medical Fellowship holders to acquire Ph.D degrees latest by 2025? The need to acquire a Ph.D degree is not new to this group of people because many of their leaders all over West Africa are Ph.D holders and there had been no resistance on the Ph.D issue from this group of professionals hence, the advice may not have been specific for them!
3. There is this emphasis being placed on the long list of Clinical Professors who had become Vice-Chancellors without Ph.D degrees making these advocates to want to justify same to apply in the appointment of the 9th Vice-Chancellor for Lagos State University. While we can admit that we have quite a number of Clinical Professors without Ph.D degrees who had been Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in the past, but as a researcher, in terms of numbers, is the number of examples cited significant enough to make a generalization? The answer is NO!
It is equally educating to state that we have also had Clinical Professors who hold both the Medical Fellowship and Ph.D degree and who had been Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in the past. The likes of Professors Tolu Olukayode Odugbemi, Roger Olatokunbo Aderibigbe Makanjuola, Friday Okonofua and Folashade Tolulope Ogunsola fall in the category of past Vice-Chancellors of various Nigerian universities who have both qualifications. Prof. Odugbemi, a Professor of Medical Microbiology as well as a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians (FWACP, Laboratory Medicine), National Postgraduate Medical College (FMCPath) and Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath, UK), obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Sheffield, School of Medicine in 1978. He also holds a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree which he obtained in 1982. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos and also Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa at different times. Prof. Makanjuola, a Professor of Psychiatry, holds a Ph.D degree he obtained from the University of Edinburgh in 1978. He was Ag. Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University from 1999 – 2000, and later substantive Vice-Chancellor of the same University from 2000 – 2005. Prof. Friday Okonofua is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and also a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists as well the Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science. He was the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the Ondo State University of Medical Sciences. He obtained his Ph.D degree in Public Health from the Karolinka University in Sweden in 2005. Prof. Ogunsola was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development Services) and for a brief period, Ag. Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Aside from being a Fellow of the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College, she holds a Ph.D degree in Medical Microbiology which she obtained from the University of Wales in 1997.
4. We also had situations where Clinical Professors were denied appointment as Vice-Chancellors in Nigerian Universities on account of not having the Ph.D degree. In 2016, the Federal University, Lokoja did not shortlist a Clinical Professor who holds a Medical Fellowship on account of not having a Ph.D degree. This tradition is still being sustained in that University as a Ph.D degree holder was appointed in 2020 after screening out those without Ph.D degrees.
In 2020, a new Vice-Chancellor was appointed for the University of Abuja. In the exercise leading to the appointment of the current Vice-Chancellor for the University, all applicants without Ph.D degrees but who are holders of Medical Fellowship were not shortlisted. Prof. Eyitope Ogungbenro Ogunbodede, the current Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, is a Medical Fellow in one of the Dental specialties. His attempts to become a Vice-Chancellor without a Ph.D degree were not successful until he got a training leave in 2011 to study in South Africa where he enrolled for a Ph.D degree and which he completed in 2014 at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa after 14 years of becoming a full Professor of Dentistry.
When the position of Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University became vacant again after he had obtained the Ph.D degree, he applied and was shortlisted and appointed because as at that time, the deficiency of Ph.D degree had been remedied with the Ph.D degree he obtained from South Africa.
Interestingly, this same situation played out in the appointment of LASU VC in 2015. Prof. John Oladapo Obafunwa was not shortlisted on account of not having a Ph.D degree despite the fact that he had earlier been appointed with only the Medical Fellowship and had completed the first term of four years. The 2015 advert specifically requested all applicants to possess a doctorate degree to qualify for appointment as LASU VC. If his Medical Fellowship is a substitute for, or an approved alternative to or an equivalent of a Ph.D degree, why was he not shortlisted? His not being shortlisted was not as a result of wanting a second term at that time but for lack of the Ph.D degree! One wonders why the Medical Fellows who believe that their Medical Fellowship is equivalent to Ph.D degree are wasting their time on this needless argument of Fellowship being equivalent to a Ph.D degree and not facing the reality that they need to beat the moratorium deadline before its expiration.
5. It is also important to stress that the international community does not rate Medical Fellowship as equivalent to Ph.D degree. While Ph.D degree holders irrespective of the University that awarded the Ph.D degree are not subjected to any form of scrutiny before they are recognized to use same for employment. Medical Fellowships obtained in Nigeria are not recognized for medical practices in other countries outside Nigeria. Holders of such Fellowship must pass certain examinations recognized in such country for them to practice clinical medicine in such countries.
7. Again, not all the trainers of Medical Fellows are University Lecturers; whereas all the trainers of Ph.D degree holders are University Teachers with Ph.D degrees. It is common knowledge that many Consultants who have not for once taught in the University and have never attended any higher training in the University aside their MB, BS degree are the trainers and examiners in the Medical Fellowship (Residency) Training Programme.
8. It is instructive to note that a Ph.D degree holder who holds a basic Medical degree in addition to the Ph.D degree cannot be appointed Chief Medical Director of a University Teaching Hospital. Only holders of Medical Fellowship can and have been to my knowledge. A Professor with a Medical Fellowship also heads a College of Medicine that I know of. In one instance at the University of Benin at a time, a Professor of Physiology, Prof. Anthony Eboigbe won election as Provost of the College of Medicine. Every medic and also the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria kicked against the emergence of a non-medic as Provost of College of Medicine and the latter body told the University of Benin that if the situation was not redressed, it would affect the licensing of their medical graduates. Today, the University of Benin does not have a College of Medicine any more, rather, a Faculty of Medicine. The case of an Epidemiologist who got appointed at UCH and was removed in 1993 or thereabout is still very fresh in our minds. The argument to support these practices lies in placing at the head of these institutions, professionals with highest professional qualification in Clinical Medicine. This same argument supports their exclusion from holding the position of Vice-Chancellor of an academic establishment (the University) by someone who does not possess the highest academic qualification.
9. Finally, no one can wish away the need to possess the Ph.D degree for any University Teacher irrespective of such teacher’s discipline, as the necessary condition to getting to the peak of academic career in a purely academic setting such as the University is possession of a Ph.D degree.
For this reason, the Fellowship is a necessary and sufficient condition to practice clinical medicine and to impart clinical skills knowledge into medical students when they are in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences of any University. It is also necessary but not a sufficient condition to be a University Teacher in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences of a University. If compulsory acquisition of PhD degree has not been enforced for Fellowship holders in the University System, the Lecturers/Consultants in our Universities are still enjoying a waiver (just as it was applied to the Law lecturers at a time) till the expiration of the moratorium granted. During the waiver period, it does not mean that their Medical Fellowship is equivalent to Ph.D degree (despite parity displayed in assigning the same score assigned to holders of Ph.D degree for Medical Fellowship qualification for promotion in LASU) and for that reason, think that they can jostle for the position of Vice-Chancellor as they have done in the last two cancelled exercises.
If for instance, such waiver is granted to a Ph.D degree holder with a basic degree in Medicine working in the hospital setting, and such individual is given a period of moratorium to acquire the Medical Fellowship qualification, will these Medical Fellows view the Ph.D degree as being equivalent to their Medical Fellowship and allow such individual to be Chief Medical Director in any University Teaching Hospital before the expiration of the period of moratorium? The answer is NO!
You can imagine how this group of professionals will resist a Ph.D degree holder in a Clinical Science Specialty who holds no basic degree in Medicine as Chief Medical Director when someone with a basic degree in medicine who in addition to this holds a Ph.D degree is being discriminated against!
10. The Ph.D degree is the best currency with which we trade in the University System while the Medical Fellowship is the best currency with which Medical Professionals trades in its own native ecosystem (which in this case is the hospital setting). The question is, can anyone get to the peak of Medical Profession without that group of professionals enforcing an aspirant to possess the Medical Fellowship if such an individual had crossed over from the academics only with a Ph.D degree even if such an individual holds a basic medical degree, talk less of an academic without a basic medical degree?
Again, for emphasis, the answer is NO! Should the operators of a purely academic setting not enforce the same for anyone who wishes to get to the peak of academic career in a purely academic setting? The answer is YES.
*Dr. Dideolu Awofoju, MB; BS, MS, MD, wrote from Lagos