Folasade Ogunsola: Erudite scholar sustaining a legacy of excellence

THOMAS IMONIKHE

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FOR those, who had gone through her intimidating curriculum vitae, the emergence of Professor Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola as the 13th Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos and the first female to occupy the exalted position, was purely meritorious and historical given her academic accomplishments over the decades.

And clinching the topmost position from a list of seven eminently qualified candidates after a rigorous screening further attests to the pedigree and impeccable character of the appointee who is a medical Doctor, a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Consultant Clinical Microbiologist to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH as well as the 13th and first female Provost of its College of Medicine.

Indeed, Ogunsola is not a greenhorn in handling sensitive and often challenging assignments as she had also served as the university’s acting Vice-Chancellor and the pioneer Deputy Vice Chancellor Development Services where she excelled overseeing and developing the institution’s internationalization, innovation and entrepreneurship as well as its partnerships.

According to a source, who had worked closely with the new VC for many years, she possesses such rare qualities as “vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character,” which the late Dwight Eisenhower, the 34^th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 insisted are a must for any man or woman aspiring to be great.

In other words Ogunsola charged with the responsibility of the day-to-day operations of the highly rated institution and reports directly to the University’s Council is eminently and sufficiently equipped to ensure the realization of its  Vision: ‘To be a Top Class Institution for the pursuit of excellence in knowledge, character and service to humanity’ and Mission: ‘To provide a conducive environment for teaching, learning, research and development, where staff and students will interact and compete effectively with their counterparts globally’.

Specifically, her schedule of duties also include, to be generally responsible to the Council in maintaining ‘the efficiency and good order of the University and for ensuring the proper enforcement of its statute, and regulations;  advise the Council on any matter affecting the administration, finance and policy and provide leadership in the relentless pursuit of excellence in all aspects of the institution’s life, including teaching, research and community service’, amongst others.

Again, having the rare opportunity of leading the 60-year-old ivory tower, established in 1962 by an Act of Parliament of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to encourage the advancement of learning and currently with an overall student population of over sixty thousand (regular and part-time at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels) and a staff strength of over five thousand, underscores the enormity of the responsibilities ahead of the erudite scholar determined to sustaining the institution’s acclaimed legacy of excellence and innovation. Her tenure will lapse in 2027.

Meanwhile, unknown to many stakeholders in the tertiary education sector, Ogunsola also a top notch researcher, had before now served as a Governing Council member of the university for a record three terms, which apparently made her towered above others during the selection process as it emerged that she was the only one with such versatile experience among the contenders. This is in addition to winning various prestigious awards from both local and international bodies, with 142 publications in reputable academic journals, co-authored four books and had successfully supervised or co-supervised eight doctoral students and 61 master’s students.

Therefore, her unassailable resume speaks volumes about the competency and capacity of Professor Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola, FAS, FNAmed, FAMedS, MBChB, MSc. PhD, FMCPath, FWACP FRCPath who graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) as a medical doctor in 1982, to rise up to the challenge of providing a focused, exemplary and progressive leadership at the university in the next five years.

It is on record also that between 1982-1983 that the scholar did her housemanship at both the University College Hospital Ibadan and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH while after the mandatory National Youth Service with Lagos state  in 1984, she worked as a private practitioner till 1989 when she went back to school and obtained an MSc with distinction in Medical Microbiology in 1990 from the University of Lagos, College of Medicine.

That year too, she started her residency programme in Pathology at the LUTH subspecialising in Medical Microbiology and becoming a fellow by examination of the Nigerian National Postgraduate Medical College in Pathology (FMCPath) and the West African College of Physicians (FWACP) (Lab Medicine). The quest for further knowledge also took

Her to the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff where she obtained a  PhD in Medical Microbiology.

Her cap of many laurels also include, a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists UK (FRCPath), a foundation fellow of both the National Academy of Medicine (FNAMed) and Academy of Medical Specialties (FAMedS). Ogunsola research interest has over the years centred on the diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance which started in the area of anaerobic bacteriology which led her into the field of HIV epidemiology and prevention. She has served as the Site Principal Investigator for community-based efforts to prevent HIV, Tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases in Lagos slums from 2003-06 in collaboration with the AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN) program of Harvard School of Public Health.

Significantly also, the collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health led to other studies and programs. For instance since 2004 beginning with the APIN program, she has directed the HIV reference laboratory at the Lagos College of Medicine that manages diagnostics and monitoring of over 15,000 HIV infected patients and also  maintains a biobank of patient sera that is available for further studies.

Within the university community itself, she has made tremendous impacts having served on many Committees and  Boards which include member of the Students Disciplinary Board, Chair of the Entrepreneurship, Skills Development Board, Chairman, Board of Kessington Adebukunola Adebutu (KAAF) Maternity and Laboratory Centre as well as Academic Publishing Centre (Southwest Zone) amongst others.

At the national level too, Ogunsola serves on a number of technical committees and boards, including member of the Nigerian Expert Review Committee for the eradication of Polio, Chairperson National Infection Prevention Control Policy review committee at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and member of the Governing Council of the Lagos State Biobank as well as the Board of Iwosan, a private medical advisory board.

Similarly, the scholar has been an active player at the international stage. She has served diligently as member Peer Review panel of the Joint Programme Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) -a global collaborative organisation and platform involving 29 countries in Europe, USA and  worked at different times with the World Health Organisation, WHO since 2003 as an infection control expert.  Presently, she is a member WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards with Pandemic and Epidemic Potential (STAG-IH), chair of the  WHO Ebola IPC Guideline Development Group (GDG)and a  member WHO Technical Advisory Group on Hand Hygiene.

A prolific writer, she has till date published over 150 papers in peer reviewed national and international journals, presented papers at over 100 conferences, workshops and seminars, attracted over 21 research grants worth over $20million  to the University, reviews for and serves on the Editorial Board of 13 national and international peer reviewed scientific journals including the American Journal of Infection Control and is a highly cited  researcher with an H-index of 23 and has been cited more than 2232 times since 2017.

The intellectual icon is also a member of various professional associations some of which include: European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious diseases, American Society for Microbiology, Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria and currently the chair of the  Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) with head offices in South Africa.

As part of numerous efforts to give back to society, the VC  has strongly impacted her community positively. For example in 2006, she opened and ran a clinic for slum dwellers in Kuramo beach, Lagos to prevent and treat HIV as well as joined the Mentors Forum where alongside others mentors young physicians. Similarly, she is the Chairman Board of EpidAlert: a community- based non-governmental organisation focused on communication of epidemics and disasters at grass-root level and member of the Governing Council of Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls and is happily married with children and grandchildren.

Having succeeded Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the immediate past VC whose five-year tenure elapsed in November this year, all eyes are on Ogunsola to further deepen the legacy of academic excellence and innovation for which the University is renowned and further improve on the institution high ranking at both local and global stage.

Consequently, relevant stakeholders have advocated maximum cooperation and support of the institution’s Governing Council, management, staff, students, the alumni association and the Federal Government for the first female VC, who many believe is on a mission to further take the university to enviable and remarkable heights.