The Medical Guild, an umbrella body of medical and dental practitioners in Lagos State, has strongly condemned the recent interdiction of the Provost of Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Professor Abiodun Adewuya.
In a letter to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Guild expressed its concerns and urged the governor to intervene.
The Guild argued that the interdiction was unjust and a deliberate attempt to disrupt the smooth transition of LASUCOM into a standalone university of medical sciences.
They pointed out that Professor Adewuya had been instrumental in implementing the Governor’s vision for the college and that his interdiction was a setback for the state’s efforts to improve healthcare services.
“This is a clear sabotage of the process of establishing this new University of Medical Sciences being spearheaded by Mr. Governor,” the guild stated in the letter.
The interdiction of Professor Adewuya comes just three years after a similar incident involving the previous Provost of LASUCOM. The guild expressed concerns about the recurring pattern of victimisation and its negative impact on the college’s morale and reputation.
Governor Sanwo-Olu has previously expressed his commitment to transforming LASUCOM into a world-class institution. The guild urged him to use his authority as the visitor to the university to intervene and ensure the reinstatement of the Provost.
The letter reads in parts, “The victimisation and interdiction of the Provost of LASUCOM, an act capable of causing unrest in the Health sector of Lagos state. We bring you warm greetings from the Medical Guild, the umbrella body of all Medical and Dental practitioners who work with the Lagos State government, and particularly those of our colleagues who are medical lecturers in the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Ikeja.
“We would like to appreciate and laud the visionary strides and tireless efforts of your administration to build, equip and upgrade critical infrastructures in the health sector of Lagos state as enshrined in your THEMES+ agenda. We are also grateful for the various welfare packages that you have acceded to for members of the Medical Guild especially to enshrine parity with our counterparts in the federal establishment.
“The Association received with great shock the news of the victimization and interdiction of our member, the substantive provost of the Lagos State University College of Medicine,(LASUCOM), Professor Abiodun Adewuya by the Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello an act capable of causing unrest, and disruption of the peace as being enjoyed by the college community.
“The Medical Guild, being an avid supporter of peaceful coexistence among stakeholder institutions in Lagos state view this interdiction as unjust and reminiscent of the role played by the medical community in the Vice Chancellorship tussle that embroiled the University and the College about 3 years ago
“ We are more worried because the college community is still reeling from the wounds inflicted on it from the needless similar venture of the interdiction of another past Provost of LASUCOM, Professor Babatunde Solagberu, by the former Vice Chancellor of LASU. This act has caused the state government a great embarrassment going by the court judgements against it and the wastage of financial resources expended on the venture.
“This renewed assault of interdiction as we are aware is not unconnected to the enviable role being played by the provost to actualize the vision of Mr. Governor to transmute the college into a fully-fledged University of Medical Sciences.
The state and indeed the Medical Guild received with very loud ovation the cheering news by Mr Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, sometime in January 2024, the vision of the state government to bequeath an international standard college of medicine and excellent healthcare system to the good people of Lagos state as part of its own giant stride to ramp up manpower challenges in the health sector occasioned by the ever-growing population of Lagos and the increasing attrition of medical personnel from the JAPA syndrome. This news was further elucidated upon during the press briefing by the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi during the ministerial press briefing of May 2024 and genuine efforts have been ongoing by relevant stakeholders to actualize this.
“This seems to us that the Provost was interdicted for cooperating and carrying out the directives of Mr. Governor via tasks assigned to him towards the smooth transition of the college to a standalone specialised university as envisaged by Mr. Governor.
“We, therefore, view this act as a clear sabotage of the process of establishing this new University of Medical Sciences being spearheaded by Mr. Governor. We join all well-meaning Lagosians and stakeholders to call on you Sir, to use your good office as the visitor to the University to help intervene and restore normalcy to the college, the pride of LASU and the state government.”
