The Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN) has advocated the formulation of policies that would attract the best brains to Nigerian Universities.
Dr. Babalakin said in UNILAG College of Medicine at the valedictory service for a former Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Professor Emmanuel Elebute.
According to him, such policies that attract best brains would speed up the nation’s development.
Giving a brief insight into the life and times of the celebrant, He said, “Professor Elebute attended CMS Grammar School and studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. He won the Cunningham Medal for Anatomy and Fitzpatrick Scholarship for the best performance in all professional examinations.
Explaining further, Dr. Babalakin said, with all options available to Professor Elebute, he chose to come back to Nigeria and contribute to the College of Medicine, UNILAG. This is what we should emulate.
“We have been having serious difficulty in attracting the best of scholars to the university system. In the era of the Elebutes, there was no better thing to do than to be in the academia. Various policies have made this unattractive and until we reverse these policies and begin again to teach attract the best brains to teach in universities, our national development will remain stifled.”
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said the late Elebute was a “mentor” as well as a great grammarian. He stated that in his practice, the erudite Professor of medicine had been able to raise a clientele of medical practitioners in the nation’s medical profession.
The Provost, UNILAG College of Medicine, Professor Afolabi Lesi described the late scholar as “an iconic man of many parts.”
According to the Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Professor Chris Bode, the late Elebute was an “impeccable dresser and was humble beyond belief.”