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Pioneer VC. Prof. B.B. LAFIAJI-OKUNEYE
The name, Professor Bidemi Bilkis Lafiaji-Okuneye, no doubt rings loudly in the minds of those in the academic field, especially Lagos. The erudite scholar is a thoroughbred Lagosian whose ancestry could be traced back to the Lafiaji and Iginla Dynasties in Lagos Island. She rose through the university’s scholarly ranks to become a Professor of Health Education at the prestigious Lagos State University, Ojo. She presently sits as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the newly established Lagos State University of Education, LASUED in Oto-Ijanikin with a campus in Noforija, Epe.
Something very exciting about Prof. Lafiaji-Okuneye’s personality is that she is an accomplished sports person who never took her academic pursuit for granted. She was an international handball player who had represented Nigeria in many championships and competitions, home and abroad. She was also prominent as the number 1 keeper of the defunct Jegede Babes.
Within a short while of her appointment as the Vice Chancellor of the new university, Professor Lafiaji-Okuneye is being praised for playing a pivotal role in the transmutation of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education to Lagos State University of Education. She takes the accolades for applying the needed framework to facilitate the approval of the 66 programmes by the National University Commission (NUC), which has resulted in the admission of the pioneer set of undergraduates.
Few weeks back, City People Reporter, JAMIU ABUBAKAR (08085185886) met her at a public function, which is a One-Day Reunion event held by members of a club of Rotaractors in the 80s, simply called Rotalum 80s. She was the guest speaker at the event and she delivered a top-notch lecture on the topic: “Journey Towards The Last Dance”. Immediately she stepped down from the podium, we quickly approached her for a chat which she obliged. It was indeed a great privilege and opportunity to have her talk about her personality as a sports person, academic don and administrator par excellence. Below are the excerpts:
What are your remarks about the day’s lecture you just delivered?
I was invited to give a talk on Ageing Gracefully. And That I did, talking about the physical side of ageing, the psychological side of ageing and the various aspects that people must talk about. The title of the lecture was ‘Journey towards the Last Dance’. What that means is that we are journeying every day, we are ageing everyday but we usually lose consciousness of death which is the ultimate. After ageing is death. So, I try to navigate through the various processes of ageing and the ultimate which is death. In my final remark, I mentioned that it is important as we age, we should go through physical exercise but we should do that at our pace. We should also be mindful of the fact that as we age, some physiological changes are taking place in us; our hearts are not acting as they should be. Our kidney, liver and all our internal organs are not working the way it should be. Anytime that we need assistance, we should not shy away from asking someone to assist us rather than wanting to do it ourselves because we are already ageing. So that is the summary of the entire lecture.
How would you describe the kind of reception given to you by your host?
Yes, indeed when I came, I met quite a lot of friends that we met last in the last 30 years. I saw some LASU school mates. I was quite delighted. And it’s also very delightful that I’m the one chosen to come and deliver the lecture. There are a lot of people out there who can do better than I can do.
Your citation read in the course of the programme was quite intimidating. It shows the stuff you are made of as a sports person and academic don. How do you get to achieve all these?
It’s a long story. I started by wanting to become a Mass Communicator. I wanted to study Mass Communication but eventually I found myself in the Department of Physical and Health Education. I did a Diploma in Physical and Health Education. I moved on to doing the degree and I came out as the best in my class. I was retained as a lecturer. And after that I went on to do my Masters and so on. But before that I was a sports person, a very active sports person. I was playing hand ball for Lagos State. I travelled to represent Nigeria. I was also playing football with one hand. I was the goalkeeper for Jegede Babes. I’m a whole lot of things. I’m somebody who rose through a very humble beginning. Like I said in the hall, we were all moving towards a direction, we didn’t know who would be prosperous. We didn’t know! There were a lot of people here who we started as youths. Thank God we are here today.
How easy was it for you to combine Sports with academics?
My own case was that as soon as I entered the university, I dropped the representation of the country. I was only representing my university to be able to focus on my studies. Because then, I had a coach who usually told us that after sports, the next thing to live on is our certificates. So he gave us that impression right from when we started. And that made me want to go for a certificate rather than do sports and retire and there’s nothing to fall back on. So, I focused more on University sports.
What’s your advice to the undergraduates out there who want to combine doing sports with their academics?
There are flexible policies these days. They are luckier because in my university, we have a policy that if you are an elite athlete, and you want to represent Nigeria. If any of your tests or exams clash with representing Nigeria, we give it to you. When you return, we will arrange your exams for you. This is because we want them to be good ambassadors of the university as well as of the nation. If it is their passion, we don’t have to cut it off. Everyone does not want to do 9 to 5 jobs. Some of them just want to have their certificates. They got our back all the time. We make our requests and they heed our requests all the time. The Lagos state government has been very fantastic.
What’s your message for prospective students and their parents?
Yes, because we are new. You know when a company launches its First products, especially phones, take it that that product would be the best. After that there can be lots of modifications. But the first product is to hit the market and let people buy your products. So, that is the stage we are at. For now, we are the preferred. Because we are new, a lot of things about us are unique. Just like our slogan which says we are unique and professional. So, people tend to choose us because we are new and they know that they would get the best from us.
How has it been running the affairs of the university?
It’s been challenging. There are positives and there are negatives. It’s been challenging but we have been able to rise above the challenges.
