Chairman, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Management Board, Bashorun Adedoja Adewolu, yesterday, said the appointment of the new Vice Chancellor, Lilian Salami, is a clear attestation by the entire university community that she is the most preferred over others.
He stated this when he led UBTH management team to visit the vice chancellor.
“Your appointment as vice chancellor, at this time in the history of the university, is not a fluke rather it is a clear attestation by the entire university community that you are the most preferred over others.
“Your ability and capacity to deliver on this job is obvious to the discerning, no wonder the process of selection was flawless and seamless,” he said.
Adewolu also commended former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his roles in encouraging women to occupy enviable positions in the Nigerian institutions of learning.
“No university can be successful without a teaching hospital and no teaching hospital can be successful without attaching itself to a university.
“I happen to know very well those ladies who have done so much in Nigeria. I happen to know very well the first female vice chancellor in Nigeria this is because of my closeness to Obasanjo who when Grace Alele-Williams was made a vice chancellor, he said he can swear on anything that she deserved it, she merits it because he said she will make it because he knew her antecedents.
“During his time as president of this country, he made sure he tapped many brains that are ladies, he identified them; you talk of Dora Akunyili, talk of Oby Ezekwesili, and many others although he said he would stand by a lady that will be the governor of a state but in our last meeting, he said he has lost hope of seeing that,” he said.
In her response, Salami said she would continue to build on the relationship that has existed between the school and the UBTH.
“There is this marriage between us that can never be dissolved, this marriage is for life, there is no graduation of students without the teaching hospital, we must work together to render assistance to our staff, our kids because it is only healthy children that can learn.
“We realise the role that you play which is very crucial and we would want you to continue in that role,” Salami said.
THISDAY
