Mike Adebamowo officially takes over administration as executive director of the University of Lagos Business School (ULBS), after the tenure of Abraham Osinubi, pioneer director of the school elapsed recently.

Adebamowo in a speech during the send-forth ceremony for the outgoing executive director explained that the management considered it worthy to celebrate the pioneer director for his outstanding achievements.

“To be a pioneering director comes with challenges, and it takes a man of character and resilience to succeed in establishing a model business school like ULBS.

At ULBS our vision is to compete favourably with other global business schools, and is foundational to the conducive learning environment of the institution,” he said.

In an event to honour him for excellent service held inside the boardroom of Alumni Jubilee House on Thursday, June 1, 2023, Folasade Ogunsola, vice chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), represented by Ayodele Atsenuwa, deputy vice-chancellor in charge of development services in her goodwill message said it was a day of honour for a staff of the institute who had challenges thrown at him.

“Today is a day of honour for one of us who had a challenge thrown at him and who embraced the challenge, not because he knew how it was going to turn out, nor because he had the confidence that he actually had the capacity, yet he did excellently well,” she said.

She further revealed that in UNILAG’s culture and mode of employment, when someone gets a memorandum and job description the last thing there is, any other assignment that the vice chancellor may give.

According to her, “That is the reason an anatomist could become the director of a business school and was able to leave a remarkable legacy.

We knew we wanted a business school, we had talked about it, some people had put some things on the ground, but none of them were tested. And so as a pioneer, it was an uncharted course, he put the structures in place, the school we are very proud of,” she noted.

Osinubi, a medical doctor and anatomist, was the pioneer executive director of ULBS.

In his speech, Osinubi appreciated the management for considering him worthy of the honour.

He described the assignment of establishing a business school for UNILAG as one of the most challenging tasks in his entire life.

“It was one of the most challenging periods of my life, and in my experience in administration as a whole.

There were many challenges and expectations when we started. However, I was fortunate to inherit a great team, we had commitment, consistency and passion for the assignment. That was what stood us out,” he said.

Samson Adefarakan, administrative secretary at ULBS highlighted some of the achievements of Osinubi’s tenure such as the introduction of an Online platform even before covid-19, the first business journal, first business conference, among others for the institute.

In addition, the school started Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA), Executive Master of Public Health (EMPH), Non-Interest Financing, and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), among others. The school now has not less than 20 students in its DBA and 40 in MBA programmes, a feat that is commendable in all ramifications.

Dignitaries from within and outside the faculty were in attendance such as Folasade Akinsola, dean of clinical science, College of Medicine, UNILAG; Obatola Musa, dean of students affairs at UNILAG; Solomon Akintoye, director of foundation studies and member of governing council at UNILAG; Nubi Gbenga, director of innovations at UNILAG; and Ngozi Osarenre, former commissioner of education of Edo State, among others.