President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Oluwatoyin Temitayo Ogundipe, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, as Chairman of the governing board of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga announced the appointment in a statement on Monday.
Ogundipe, 66, succeeds Olufemi Raphael Aina, who resigned less than one year after his appointment.
President Tinubu appointed Aina in July 2025 and inaugurated the board in November 2025.
The new NUC Chairman is a professor of Botany with expertise in molecular plant taxonomy, biosystematics, ethnobotany, cytogenetics, forensic botany, and ecological conservation.
Ogundipe served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos from 2017 to 2022. He holds a PhD in Botany from Obafemi Awolowo University and an MBA from the University of Lagos.
He is currently Pro-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, the Linnaean Society of London, and the Royal Society of Biology, London.
Ogundipe has also served as President of the Botanical Society of Nigeria and Chairman of the Lagos State Science, Research and Innovation Council, LASRIC.
As NUC Chairman, he will oversee the regulatory body of the Nigerian university system, focusing on funding, global competitiveness, and academic stability.
President Tinubu expects Ogundipe to provide visionary leadership at the NUC and sustain the credibility of the Nigerian university system in line with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The president charged him to advance quality, access, and integrity in the education sector, Onanuga said.