In her remarks, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, congratulated each of the retiring academics for their illustrious service to the University, and contributions to the body of knowledge. Prof. Ogunsola, on behalf of management, staff and students, wished them well, and prayed that they would enjoy the fruits of their labour in good health.

In their separate responses, Professors Nwanna, Akinboye and Soremekun traced their professional journey as academics, and offered recommendations for the advancement of tertiary education. They also expressed gratitude to their families and friends as well as the University Senate and community for the opportunity to serve and contribute their quota to the development of Nigeria.

Below are the citations of the three academics:

Professor Chinwe Rosabelle Nwanna was born on December 21, 1955, in Enugu, Enugu State. She began her education at Convent School, Ogui, Enugu, and completed her West African Examination Council Certificate in Division One at Owerri Girls’ Secondary School in 1971. She trained as a nurse at the Institute of Health, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, earning her Nursing Certificate in 1976, and obtained her Midwifery Certificate from the School of Midwifery, Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka in 1977.

After years of practice, she pursued her passion for human development at the University of Lagos, earning a Diploma in Social Development and Administration in 1983. She later completed a direct-entry degree in Sociology with specialization in Social Work, graduating in 1986 with First Class Honours as the best student in both the Faculty of Social Sciences and Department of Sociology, the department’s first female First-Class graduate.

Professor Nwanna joined the University of Lagos in 1998 as an Assistant Lecturer and rose through the ranks to become a Professor in 2019. She has served the University in multiple leadership positions, including Senate Member (2002–2003; 2021–present), Coordinator of the Bachelor of Social Work Programme (2007–2018), and Head, Department of Social Work (2021–2024). She pioneered the establishment of the B.Sc. Social Work programme in 2007 and the Postgraduate programme in 2023, and also hosted a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow in 2019. She delivered her Inaugural Lecture, “Caught in the Web: Rebuilding the Cradle,” on March 5, 2025.

Beyond academia, Professor Nwanna has played a pivotal role in shaping the social work profession in Nigeria. As a consultant to UNICEF and the National Universities Commission, she reviewed Social Development curricula (2015), contributed to the Social Welfare Professionalisation Bill (2015–2016), and supported national reforms in Child Protection and Child Justice (2015–2018). She finalized the National Social Welfare Policy in 2017 and harmonized Social Work Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards the same year.

A distinguished trainer, examiner, and scholar, she is a member of several national and international professional bodies and in 2025, became the first Nigerian Representative to the Commonwealth Organisation for Social Work Council.

Professor Solomon Oladele Akinboye was born on December 24, 1955, in Ejigbo, Osun State. His early education began at Beulah Baptist School and L.A. Secondary Modern School, Ejigbo, and continued at Baptist College, Iwo, Osun State, where he developed the intellectual discipline and moral grounding that have continued to define his academic and professional life.

Professor Akinboye proceeded to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics between 1974 and 1978. He subsequently obtained his Master’s degree from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, in 1980–1981, and completed his doctoral studies in International Relations at the University of Benin, Benin City, between 1986 and 1989. His exceptional academic performance earned him Federal Government Scholarship awards for both his undergraduate and Ph.D. programmes, underscoring his early promise as a scholar of distinction.

In 2000, Professor Akinboye was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship, which he utilized at the University of Delaware, with additional scholarly exposure at Harvard University, Boston, and the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also served as a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, Georgia. Over the years, he has attracted several competitive fellowships and research grants, including the KSU/Institute for Global Initiative Visiting Fellowship Award, the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) Grant, and the Africa Institute of South Africa/Thabo Mbeki Institute Grant. Most recently, he served as the Principal Researcher on a TETFund-funded project on voters’ apathy in Nigeria as political protest (2022–2025).

At the University of Lagos, Professor Akinboye has made outstanding contributions to academic leadership and institutional development. He has served in several strategic positions including Head, Department of Political Science (2009-2015); Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies (2015-2019); Director. School of Foundation Studies (2022-2024); Interim Director, Centre for Economic Policy Analysis and Research (CEPAR) 2025; and member of both the University Senate and Governing Council.

At the national level, he served as Honorary Secretary of the Committee of Deans of Postgraduate Schools in Nigerian Universities and served for six years as a member of the Governing Council of Osun State University. Internationally, he has served on several prestigious scholarly and policy committees, including PASGR and other Pan-African academic initiatives.

Professor Akinboye has over 90 scholarly publications in books and reputable national and international journals. His inaugural lecture, delivered on July 17, 2013, titled “Beautiful Abroad but Ugly at Home: Issues and Contradictions in Nigeria’s Foreign Policy,” remains a seminal contribution to foreign policy discourse in Nigeria.

He is married with children and grandchildren.

Professor Rebecca Oritsemaje Soremekun, nee Morgridge was born on January 28, 1956. She attended Holy Child College, Lagos where she obtained a Division One with distinction. She studied Pharmacy at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University where she bagged a Second-Class Upper Division Degree (1980). She went on to acquire other qualifications: M.Sc. Pharmaceutics, Masters in Business Administration, a PhD in Clinical Pharmacy and an Advanced Diploma in Management from the Lagos Business School. She has been able to traverse the two fields of the corporate world and academia, and in both contexts, she has functioned competently at the highest levels including rising to become the Director of Technical Operations on the Board of Pharma-Deko lc. She currently serves as a non-Executive Director on the Board of Vitapur Nig. Ltd., a subsidiary of Vitafoam PLC.

Professor Soremekun crossed over to academia in 2002 where she rose to the rank of Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Lagos. She served meritoriously as Deputy Dean, Students’ Affairs (2010-2014); Head, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmacy (2016-2018); Chairman, Quality Assurance and SERVICOM Committee of the Faculty of Pharmacy and member, UNILAG Quality Assurance Committee (2021-2025).

A Fellow of the West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists and Nigerian Academy of Pharmacy, she has to her credit fifty-five (55) peer-reviewed publications in foreign and national journals. She has served as Consultant with PATHS, an international agency for partnerships on health services and the World Health Organization (WHO) on several public health policy projects.

Professor Rebecca Soremekun is married to Professor Kayode Soremekun and the union is blessed with six daughters.