The Audacity of the Disgraced: Why Professor O.T.F. Abanikanda Has No Moral Ground to Criticise Lagos State University

 The Audacity of the Disgraced: Why Professor O.T.F. Abanikanda Has No Moral Ground to Criticise Lagos State University

There is something profoundly ironic, almost theatrical, about a man who allegedly spent years terrorising students and staff suddenly rebranding himself as a righteous crusader against the institution that finally held him accountable. Professor Olatunji Tajudeen Fasasi Abanikanda, the former Dean of the School of Agriculture at Lagos State University (LASU), was dismissed in July 2025 after a thorough disciplinary process found him guilty of gross misconduct. Yet instead of introspection or quiet acceptance, he has chosen a path of vengeance - launching a series of social media attacks and coordinated media narratives aimed at discrediting the university and its leadership.

This is not the voice of a concerned stakeholder. It is the bitter, vengeful outburst of a man stripped of power, privilege, and protection - now desperately trying to burn down the house that rightly evicted him. Professor Abanikanda lacks any moral standing to criticise LASU or its leaders. His hands are stained, his credibility shattered, and his current campaign exposes more about his character than it does about the institution he once served.

Let us start with the facts. Abanikanda was not removed on a whim or through some shadowy conspiracy. After credible complaints surfaced, particularly the viral May 2025 incident where students were allegedly forced to stand in heavy rainfall during Farm Practical Year at the Epe Campus, the university under the leadership of Distinguished Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, mni, NPOM, took measured steps. A fact-finding panel was constituted. He was formally queried and given the opportunity to defend himself. The case escalated to the Joint Council-Senate Disciplinary Committee, where testimonies from students, former students, and staff were painstakingly reviewed. He was found culpable of inhumane treatment of students, sexual harassment, verbal and emotional abuse, threats, curses, profane language, and unauthorised extortion of money from students and staff.

These were not isolated lapses. Multiple investigative reports, including the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ)’s damning exposé titled “Prof Abanikanda’s Reign of Terror,” documented a pattern that stretched back years - long before his appointment as Dean in 2020. Students described an atmosphere of fear, where academic outcomes could be weaponised against those who displeased him. Female students allegedly faced inappropriate advances. Farm practical sessions reportedly turned punitive rather than educational. The accounts painted a picture of a man who wielded authority like a personal weapon, deriving apparent satisfaction from the suffering and intimidation of those under his charge.

This was a classic case of power corrupting absolutely. Cloaked in academic robes, Abanikanda behaved like a despot ruling a personal fiefdom. He allegedly blended crude intimidation with spiritual posturing, references to Sango and curses that left students terrified. His sense of impunity was so entrenched that he reportedly boasted that even the Vice-Chancellor could not touch him. When the system finally moved, it did so through due process, including an appeal that was unanimously rejected by the University Council for lack of merit.

Yet, rather than accept responsibility, Abanikanda has embarked on a sustained public campaign. From coded Facebook posts questioning the Vice-Chancellorship appointment process to direct attacks on the Registrar and veiled insinuations against Distinguished Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, he has positioned himself as some sort of whistleblower. The irony is suffocating. A man dismissed for gross misconduct now presumes to lecture the university on governance, fairness, and leadership standards.

This is not principled criticism. It is personal vendetta dressed up as public interest. The principle of equity is clear and ancient: those who come before it must come with clean hands. Professor Abanikanda’s hands are anything but clean. He forfeited any legitimate right to comment on LASU’s internal affairs the moment the weight of evidence established his own abuse of the authority entrusted to him. His unsolicited interventions carry no moral weight because they fail the most basic test of legitimacy, personal integrity.

What makes his campaign particularly galling is the stark contrast with the remarkable transformation LASU has undergone under the current administration. Since Professor Olatunji-Bello assumed office in 2021, the university has recorded unprecedented accreditation successes, expanded academic programmes, established new faculties and schools, transitioned into a full residential institution, and delivered significant infrastructure projects across campuses. LASU has become Nigeria’s most subscribed university, earned continental recognition in sustainability rankings, grown internally generated revenue dramatically, and hosted major international events. These are verifiable achievements that have elevated the institution’s standing.

For a former Dean whose tenure in the School of Agriculture was defined by complaints of tyranny and abuse to now cast aspersions on this progress is not only hypocritical but insulting. It reveals a man who has not reconciled himself to the consequences of his actions. Stripped of his position and privileges, he seeks relevance through noise and disruption. His posts, filled with performative intellectualism and selective outrage, are transparent attempts to delegitimise processes he no longer influences.

This behaviour fits a broader, troubling pattern in our public institutions. When individuals in positions of power are finally held accountable, the reaction is rarely humility. Instead, we often witness denial, deflection, and a frantic effort to discredit the system that exposed them. Professor Abanikanda’s case is a textbook example of “corruption fighting back.” Unable to accept that his reign of impunity has ended, he resorts to the only weapon left: public defamation and planted narratives.

The university’s decision to largely ignore his provocations has been both dignified and strategic. Responsible institutions do not waste energy engaging in mudslinging with those they have already sanctioned through proper channels. To dignify his attacks would be to grant him a relevance and platform he no longer deserves. LASU has moved forward. It is past time Professor Abanikanda did the same.

In the final analysis, the greatest damage Abanikanda inflicted was not just on the students and staff who suffered under him, but on the very idea of accountability. By refusing to accept the consequences of his actions and instead launching a vendetta against the institution, he sends a dangerous message: that those in power can act with impunity and, when caught, still claim the right to judge their accusers.

Professor Abanikanda is entitled to his opinions on his private platforms. But he should spare the public the pretence of moral superiority. The man who allegedly turned a School of Agriculture into a theatre of fear and intimidation until the decisive intervention of the university authority has zero business lecturing Lagos State University on leadership, integrity, or due process. His moral standing on these matters is precisely zero.

Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones, especially when the broken shards of their own windows are still scattered across years of documented complaints and a formal disciplinary record. The evidence against him is public. The disciplinary outcome is final. The university has spoken through its actions. It is time for Professor Abanikanda to accept the verdict and step aside.

The transformation of LASU continues, stronger, more accountable, and focused on its core mandate. The disgraced former Dean’s bitterness cannot halt that progress. It can only highlight, in sharp relief, why accountability matters and why those who abuse power must eventually face its consequences.

_Concerned Alumni of LASU_