Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi, new vice-chancellor, University of Abuja.
By Faith Odu
The University of Abuja (now Yakubu Gowon University), has approved the appointment of Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi as the substantive Vice-chancellor of the institution.
This is contained in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by the university’s Acting Director, Information and University Relations, UniAbuja, Dr Habib Yakoob.
Yakoob said that the appointment was made during the 80th Extraordinary meeting of the University’s Council on Friday.
The Council is chaired by former Sen. Olanerwaju Tejuoso, took the decision during its 11th Governing Council.
He said that the appointment would take effect from Feb. 10, 2026, and was for a non renewable tenure of five years.
The university spokesperson said that Fawehinmi is currently the Vice Chancellor of the Nigerian British University, a conventional private university located in Ada, Abia State.
He said that the council has also approved the extension of the tenure of the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Mathew Adamu untill Feb. 10, 2026.
Yakoob said that Adamu was first appointed on Aug. 11 by the Federal Government, adding that the council’s decision followed due deliberation during the meeting.
He said that Fawehinmi is a Prof. of Clinical Anatomy and Biomedical Anthropology, adding that he has wealth of experience in Institutional Administration.
The university’s spokesman said the new VC was a twice Head of Department of Anatomy (2005 – 2007; 2007 – 2009), Associate Dean (2010 – 2012), Dean (2012 – 2014), Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, and twice Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) (2016 – 2020) of the University of Port Harcourt.
He said the new VC had also served in several Statutory and Ad-hoc Committees and Boards, attributes which equipped him with the requisite skills to provide leadership to a well-informed growing academic community.
Yakoob said Fawehinmi has been an active member of National and International Professional Associations.
He said he had served as the Secretary-General and Member of National Executive Council of the Nigerian Medical Association, Rivers State, from 1999 to 2000.
He said that Fawehinmi was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Anatomical Sciences and President of the Society of Experimental and Clinical Anatomists of Nigeria (2014-2016).
“He has received many academic and community service awards and prizes and was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (FRAI) and Fellow of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria (FAMedS).
“Fawehinmi has over 100 articles in reputable peer reviewed mostly indexed journals, visible in conventional academic search engines and 37 Conference Abstracts to his credit.
“He has participated and served as a resource person in 78 conferences, workshops and training programmes in Africa, Europe, the Middle-East and North America.
“He has supervised over 100 BSc Projects, 15 MSc, 13 PhD/MD dissertations, thesis and delivered the 111th Inaugural Lecture of the UniPort in 2014 titled: “Different Tailors for the Same People; Same Surgeon for Different People”, he said.
The university’s spokesman said that Fawehinmi had also attracted some National and International Competitive Grants as Principal Investigator, adding that his invention won the Federal Government Patent for the Design of the AMRG Anthropometry Chair for Dimensional Body Measurements.
According to Yakoob, the new VC has been involved in the conceptualisation and delivery of several MoUs and partnerships between Town and Gown locally and internationally.
He said that he has been an external examiner and assessor to the professoriate to almost all the first and second generation universities, including the University of Exeter UK.
”Fawehinmi has led visitation panels of the National Universities Commission and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to several medical schools.
“The new vice-chancellor was recently cited in the 2021 Africa Scientist Rankings by the Alper – Doger Scientific Index.
“He is married to Dr Hadeezat Fawehinmi, a lecturer with Uniport and they have five children,” he said.
