The University of Lagos (UNILAG) Senate, at its meeting of Wednesday, August 26, 2026, celebrated three professors ahead of their retirement from active service.
They are:
- Professor Tolulọpẹ Akinbulire, Faculty of Engineering;
- Professor Omololu Soyombo, Faculty of Social Sciences; and
- Professor Olugbenga Abayomi Okanlawon, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Professor Muyiwa Falaiye, in his capacity as Acting Chairman of the August 2026 Senate Meeting, congratulated the retirees and read their citations.
In their separate responses, Professors Akinbulire, Soyombo, and Okanlawon recounted their professional journeys as academics, offered recommendations for the advancement of tertiary education, and expressed gratitude to their families, friends, the University Senate, and the University community for the opportunity to serve and contribute their quota to national development.
Below are the citations of the three academics:
Professor Tolulọpẹ Akinbulire was born on September 2, 1956 in Ile-Oluji, Ondo State. He attended St. Thomas Aquinas College, Akure, where he obtained his West African Senior School Certificate. He proceeded to the University of Lagos (UNILAG), where he obtained his B.Sc. (Hons), M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees, all in Electrical Engineering.
Professor Akinbulire commenced his academic career at UNILAG as a Graduate Assistant in 1985. Through dedication to scholarship, teaching, research, and university service, he rose through the ranks to become a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
His research interests are in Electrical Power Engineering, with particular emphasis on reliability, security, management, and efficient and economic utilisation of electrical power, as well as the safe operation of electrical power systems.
Over the course of his career, he taught and examined numerous undergraduate and postgraduate courses within and outside UNILAG. He has successfully supervised more than 400 undergraduate and postgraduate projects.
In addition to teaching and research, he held several academic and administrative positions at departmental, faculty, and university levels. He also served as an external examiner for several colleges of technology, polytechnics, and universities.
Professor Akinbulire is a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (MNSE) and the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE). He is also registered with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
He is married with children.
Professor Omololu Soyombo was born on September 6, 1956 in Abeokuta. He obtained his B.Sc. (Sociology), Second Class Honours (Upper Division), from UNILAG in 1977; M.Sc. (Sociology) from UNILAG in 1980; and Ph.D. (Sociology) from the University of Essex, Colchester, England, in 1992.
He commenced his academic career at UNILAG on August 1, 1981, and became Professor of Sociology with effect from October 1, 2005. His teaching and research interests include Sociology of Crime and Delinquency, Methods of Social Research, Sociology of Economic Life, and Social Welfare.
An accomplished scholar, Professor Soyombo has over 70 publications. He has served as External Examiner and Assessor for several universities in Nigeria and abroad, and on the editorial boards of reputable academic journals. He has supervised over 150 undergraduate projects, 50 Master’s dissertations, and 11 Ph.D. theses, with several of his doctoral students now professors.
He has undertaken consultancy and research assignments for major national and international organisations, including the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, USAID, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and CODESRIA. His recent work includes Resettlement Action Plans, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, Facilities Upgrading, Willingness to Pay Studies, and Policing and Security Studies, including Community Policing and Police Reform.
Professor Soyombo has extensive university administrative experience, having served as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Managing Director of UNILAG Consult. He spearheaded the establishment of the Master of Criminology (M.Crim.) programme in the Department of Sociology.
He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Security Nigeria (DFISN), Institute of Criminology and Strategic Studies (DFICSS), Nigerian Anthropological and Sociological Practitioners Association (FNASA), and Fellow of the Institute of Criminology and Penology Nigeria (FICPN).
He is married with children and grandchildren.
Professor Olugbenga Abayomi Okanlawon is a distinguished medical doctor, anatomist, researcher, and academic administrator whose career has been closely associated with the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL), for nearly five decades.
Born in Zaria, Kaduna State, on September 16, 1956, he had his early education in Kaduna and Lagos before proceeding to the Federal School of Science and subsequently to CMUL, where he obtained his MBBS in 1980. He later earned an M.Phil. in Anatomy in 1987 and a Ph.D. in Anatomy in 1991 under the supervision of Professor Oladapo Adenrele Ashiru, OFR, FAMedS. From 1993 to 1996, he undertook postdoctoral research at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., USA.
Professor Okanlawon began his academic career as Research Fellow II in 1982, and progressed through Research Fellow I and Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor in 1997, and Professor of Anatomy in 2003. His scholarly work has established him as an authority in reproductive biology and toxicology, particularly in androgen regulation, spermatogenesis, testicular function, and the effects of environmental toxins, herbs, and drugs on reproductive health.
He has published over 60 scholarly papers in national and international journals and was among the early researchers to apply stereological techniques to the study of spermatogenesis. He has supervised more than 15 Ph.D. candidates and numerous Master’s students, many of whom now occupy professorial and leadership positions in Nigerian universities.
Beyond research and teaching, Professor Okanlawon has rendered extensive academic and institutional service. At CMUL, he served as Acting and Substantive Head of the Department of Anatomy, Hall Master of Felix Dosekun Hall, Chairman of the Postgraduate Education Committee, and Deputy Provost from 2012 to 2016.
At the University level, he served on the Board of the School of Postgraduate Studies for three decades (1993–2023) and chaired its Academic Programmes Committee. He was also Chairman of the Business Committee of Senate (BCOS) from 2010 to 2013, served on several Senate committees, and chaired the Board of the Distance Learning Institute (DLI) from 2021 to 2025.
A scholar of distinction, devoted teacher, accomplished researcher, and experienced administrator, Professor Olugbenga Abayomi Okanlawon has made enduring contributions to Anatomy, reproductive biology, toxicology, postgraduate education, and university governance.
He is married with children and grandchildren.
