The Guest Lecturer, Professor ‘Lasun Gbadamosi (1st Left), the Alunmi President, Prof. Lateef Sanni (1st Right) and other Alunmi of the University
The Dean, Faculty of Education, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Professor ‘Lasun Gbadamosi has described the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal Uinversity of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Professor Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun as a “transformational leader par excellence”.
The University Don observed that if half of the number of serving Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities could replicate Professor Balogun’s transformational leadership initiatives in their various institutions, the nation’s Ivory Towers will never remain the same.
Professor Gbadamosi lauded the outstanding prowess of Professor Balogun, while delivering the 14th Annual Lecture Series, commemorating the 15th Annual Convention of the FUNAAB Alumni Association, held recently at the Tony Anenih Building of the University.
The theme of his Lecture was, “Transformational Leadership in the 21st Century University: A Clarion Call to Nigerians”.
According to him, “Professor Balogun is almost a perfect example of a transformational leader while FUNAAB presents the true picture of a beneficiary of transformational leadership”.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I must say that I started perceiving the pleasant scent of transformational leader and leadership as I was approaching the entrance of the University. The lines and rows of palm trees that led me to the entrance were beautiful and symbolic of a University of Agriculture”, he said.
Speaking further, “On getting to the campus, I marveled at the high level of transformation of the University, under Professor Balogun. I said the transformation of FUNAAB is a complete lecture on its own.
Some mischievous elements may say that after all, FUNAAB is better funded by the Federal Government and donor agencies. What such people don’t know is that if you are given the whole money in the world, if you are not a transformational leader, you won’t spend it judiciously”, he added.
Professor Gbadamosi observed that, “In the case of Professor Balogun, I reliably gathered that he’s a prudent manager of men and resources. I was reliably told that his drive for internally-generated revenue is radical and more importantly, he does the right thing with the money. No wonder, he’s a transformational leader par excellence”.
The Dean identified vision, determination, hard work and team spirit as some of the attributes of a transformational leader, which he said were all embedded in Professor Balogun.