Osun Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has defended the extension of the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Prof. Clement Odunayo Adebooye, saying the decision was based on merit, legality and the need to sustain the university’s development trajectory.
Adeleke, who spoke on Thursday through the Deputy Governor, Prince Kola Adewusi, at the university’s convocation ceremony, said his administration had witnessed significant academic and infrastructural transformation at the institution in the last four years.
The governor said no fewer than 40 major building projects had been completed and commissioned across the university within the period, adding that more than 30 complementary projects, including renovations, procurement, supplies and solar installations, had also been undertaken to improve teaching, learning and administrative activities.
According to him, some of the major projects commissioned in August alone included an ultra-modern FIFA-standard Sports Complex, a three-in-one Science Laboratory Complex and two lecture theatres. He added that the university had also sustained industrial harmony, with no academic session lost in the last five years.
Adeleke further said UNIOSUN had become the second state-owned university in Nigeria to fully implement the 2025 Federal Government-Staff Union agreement, describing the development as evidence of his administration’s commitment to staff welfare and a conducive academic environment.
On the tenure extension, the governor said he approved a two-year extension for the Vice-Chancellor effective from January 4, 2027, following consultations and compliance with relevant state laws.
He added that the decision had subsequently been backed by an amendment to the Osun State University Law, 2006, passed by the State House of Assembly earlier in September.
Defending the performance of the Vice-Chancellor, Adeleke said UNIOSUN had attracted five major Federal Government projects in September alone, while the university had also completed accreditation requirements for its medical programme and presented its 90 pioneer MBBS students for induction by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and award of university degrees.
The governor also cited the expansion of the university’s student population from 14,260 in 2022 to 42,791 in 2026, the completion and commissioning of the 250-bed Modupe and Folorunso Alakija Medical Research and Training Hospital, and improved rankings, saying UNIOSUN had emerged as the third-best state university in Nigeria, 19th among 312 Nigerian universities and 137th among 2,390 universities in Africa.
He urged staff and management to support the Governing Council and university administration in sustaining peace and academic progress, assuring workers that his administration would continue to support the institution.