Calls for the reinstatement of five lecturers dismissed by Lagos State University have intensified, seven years after their removal from the university’s employment and more than four years after an appeal committee recommended that they be recalled.
The lecturers, popularly known as the ‘LASU Five’, were senior officials of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, LASU chapter, when they were dismissed.
They are Isaac Oyewumi, who was the branch chairperson; Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu, vice-chairperson; Anthony Dansu, secretary; Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan, assistant secretary; and Oluwakemi Aboderin-Shonibare, treasurer.
The five were dismissed following a decision of the university’s Governing Council at its 122nd meeting on September 12, 2019.
They were accused of unauthorised removal and dissemination of confidential university documents, allegations they have consistently disputed.
The dispute has remained unresolved despite a subsequent internal review that cleared the lecturers of the offences and recommended their reinstatement.
In February 2022, an Appeal Committee headed by the university’s then Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Adenike Boyo, reportedly recommended that the lecturers be reinstated after considering their case.
The Governing Council subsequently approved the recommendation on February 23, 2022.
However, the decision did not result in the lecturers’ return to their positions.
About 48 hours after approving the recommendation, the same Governing Council reportedly placed the recall on hold, leaving the lecturers outside the university despite the earlier recommendation for their reinstatement.
The unresolved matter has since generated repeated appeals and protests from the affected lecturers, ASUU members and other groups calling for the implementation of the 2022 decision.
The latest call came from the lecturers themselves, who renewed their demand for unconditional reinstatement and described the prolonged delay as unjust.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Dansu said the lecturers remained committed to seeking fairness and justice despite the difficulties that had followed their dismissal.
He said the experience had attracted both disappointment and unexpected support from individuals and groups who had stood by them throughout the dispute.
“Seven years is not the end of a story. Sometimes, it is merely the silence before the final chapter,” Dansu said, expressing confidence that the matter would eventually be resolved in their favour.
The renewed demand also brings fresh attention to the role of the Lagos State Government in resolving the long-running dispute, particularly given the state government’s relationship with the university.
In 2025, the Concerned Sons and Daughters of Ikoga-Zebbe Kingdom in Badagry appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene in the matter and facilitate the implementation of the Governing Council’s 2022 decision.
The group specifically called on the governor to lift what it described as an embargo preventing the implementation of the council’s decision to reinstate Dansu and the four other lecturers.
The group described the lecturers’ dismissal as wrongful and illegal and urged the state government to bring the matter to an end.
The continued delay has left the status of the five lecturers unresolved years after an internal appeal process reportedly cleared them and recommended their return.
For the affected academics, the latest demand is therefore not for a fresh review of their case but for the implementation of the reinstatement decision they say has already been reached.
The Lagos State Government and Lagos State University had yet to publicly announce a new decision on the lecturers’ renewed demand as of the time of filing this report.
