A video obtained by SaharaReporters on Tuesday showed students joyfully celebrating the new appointment, chanting praise songs and offering prayers for Dr. Ojuromi’s success.

The management of Lagos State University (LASU) has dismissed Professor O.T.F. Abanikanda from his role as Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture following allegations of degrading and inhumane treatment of students at the university’s school farm.

Sources revealed that Dr. Oladele Ojuromi has been appointed as the new Dean of the Faculty.

This decision came after the Take-It-Back (TIB) Movement raised concerns about the harsh and unacceptable conditions students were subjected to while living and working on the farm.

A video obtained by SaharaReporters on Tuesday showed students joyfully celebrating the new appointment, chanting praise songs and offering prayers for Dr. Ojuromi’s success.

One of the joyous students said, “After TIB’s intervention in the ongoing LASU crisis, the management relieved Prof. O.T.F. Abanikanda of his duty and appointed Dr. Oladele Ojuromi as the new Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture.”

“You can see the joy on the students’ faces! Abanikanda has been a tyrant for five years and a burden on the students,” another student said.

“The case was brought to the office of the Lagos TIB coordinator, and we took it upon ourselves to act. Victory is ours.”

On May 24, 2025, SaharaReporters reported that the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Southwest Zone D, had issued a scathing condemnation of Prof Abanikanda over what it described as a “consistent pattern of tyranny, intimidation, and abuse of power” spanning more than two decades.

In a statement made available to SaharaReporters, the students' body alleged that Prof. Abanikanda had cultivated a legacy of authoritarianism dating back to 2002 during his time at the Faculty of Management Sciences.

NANS described the dean’s leadership style as “unprofessional and inhumane,” accusing him of fostering a toxic environment detrimental to both students and academic staff.

“This tyranny must no longer be tolerated,” the students’ union declared, urging the university management and Lagos State Government to launch an urgent investigation and take decisive disciplinary action against the embattled professor.

“We recognise the emotional and academic toll this toxic environment has inflicted on the learning community and demand immediate action to address this injustice,” NANS stated.

According to NANS, multiple reports and testimonies from LASU’s Faculty of Agriculture suggest a deep-rooted culture of fear, intimidation, and reprisals orchestrated by Prof. Abanikanda, who currently holds one of the most powerful academic positions within the institution.

Sources within the university, who spoke with SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, corroborated the students’ claims, describing the dean as “a man who rules with an iron fist and brooks no opposition.”

“Prof. Abanikanda doesn’t just disagree with dissenting views — he punishes them,” said a senior staff member. “People have been demoted, denied promotions, or outrightly frustrated out of the system for challenging his methods.”

The statement was signed by Comrade Owolewa Taiwo S., Coordinator of NANS Southwest Zone D; Comrade Oluwole Olutunde A., General Secretary; and Comrade Kuku Isaiah Eromidayo, the Zone’s Public Relations Officer.

Recently, SaharaReporters reported how final-year students of the Faculty of Agriculture at Lagos State University (LASU), Epe Campus, accused the Dean of subjecting them to degrading and inhumane treatment by forcing them to live and work like prisoners inside the university’s school farm.

SaharaReporters gathered that the students were compelled to sleep on makeshift shelters within the LASU farm for over a month, as part of their project assignment.

Sources within the campus had described the conditions as “prison-like,” adding that the students are denied access to their hostels and forced into intense manual labour under threats of failure.

“These are his project students, and that’s where they have been sleeping for over one month,” a source within the university told SaharaReporters.

“He said they must not go to their hostels—that they will remain there until they are done with their project, which might be till November or December.”