Health
UNILAG dons celebrate colleague for advancing anatomy profession in Nigeria
Angela Onwuzoo
Principal officers, eminent scholars and top dignitaries gathered at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos to honour Prof Abayomi Okanlawon for 44 years of advancing the anatomy profession in Nigeria as he retires at the age of 70.
Described as a father of anatomy, Okanlawon was celebrated by leading scholars from the CMUL, including the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, who gathered at the Old Great Hall of the college for a Valedictory Symposium and Retirement Celebration in his honour.
The event celebrated Okanlawon’s landmark contributions to the growth of the anatomy profession, particularly his role in producing generations of scholars in the field.
Anatomy, described by experts as the foundation of medicine, is the study of the structure of the body. It is a branch of science that investigates organs, bones, structures, and cells in animals and humans.
A former UNILAG Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe; Okanlawon’s mentor, Professor of Anatomy and Consultant Reproductive Endocrinologist, Prof. Oladapo Ashiru; and the Provost of the College of Medicine, Prof. Ademola Oremosu, were among those in attendance to celebrate a man who went beyond anatomy to build institutions and produce scholars.
Speaking at the valedictory symposium, titled “Beyond Anatomy: Custodian of Memory, Maker of Scholars, Builder of Institutions,” the keynote speaker and Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies, UNILAG, Prof. Abraham Osinubi, said Okanlawon, his mentor, built and empowered people, leaving a lasting legacy at the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, CMUL.
Osinubi described him as a man who was “out of the room but still in the room” because of his impact on the profession, stating that academic success went beyond academic publications.
The dean said academic excellence should not be measured by the number of publications, noting that it was much more than that.
“What I have posited today is that we should look at institutional memories, mentorship, and how many people we have actually capacitated. We should look at how many people you have lifted to do much more than what you actually did. And ask the question: Will what you have started continue when you are outside that room? That, for me, is the hallmark of academic excellence. We should build people and not just buildings,” the don said.
He described Okanlawon as an exceptional academic, institution builder, and maker of scholars, urging others to learn from his legacy and how he advanced the anatomy profession.
“What you are leaving behind will continue when you are not in that room. That is what is called legacy.
“Prof. Okanlawon has excelled in terms of institutional memory, mentorship, and supervision, and that was why I referred to him not as a supervisor of a thesis, but as a developmental supervisor. He has capacitated me and many others. He has produced me, and we, in turn, produced professors who have done well. Legacy is not just about buildings. Legacy is more about building people,” Osinubi said.
The symposium transformed into a gathering of tributes, scholarship and heartfelt storytelling.
In her remarks, the UNILAG VC paid glowing tribute to Okanlawon for extending his intellectual interests beyond his primary discipline of anatomy to history.
Ogunsola said his contributions to the university reflected the value of committed academics who helped build institutions over time.
She described him as a “historian anatomist” and urged him to continue writing beyond retirement.
“Prof. Okanlawon’s career demonstrated the importance of service, mentorship and continuity in strengthening the university’s academic community,” the don said.
The Head of the Department of Anatomy, Prof. Olufunke Dosumu, said Okanlawon’s service and mentorship had impacted everyone and advanced the department.
Recalling her experience with the renowned mentor as a postgraduate student in 1999, Dosumu said Okanlawon assisted her in producing her first scholarly publication and taught her the principles of academic writing.
Beyond mentoring, she said Okanlawon had contributed immensely to the development of reproductive biology, endocrinology and stereology, fields in which younger scholars had continued to work.
Citing his contributions, the Provost of the CMUL, Prof. Ademola Oremosu, said the university would particularly miss Okanlawon’s wealth of experience, institutional knowledge and mentorship.
Also speaking, a Professor of Anatomy at CMUL, Stella Gbotolorun, described him as a mentor who deliberately groomed young researchers and a repository of UNILAG’s institutional history.
“He has been a good mentor who assisted me greatly and contributed immensely to the anatomy profession in Nigeria. Prof. Okanlawon is a historian and is always available to support us and provide us with information,” Gbotolorun said.
Recounting his 44-year journey into anatomy, Okanlawon thanked his mentors for guiding him and helping him succeed in life.
“The secret to any great life is to have somebody who mentors you. I had a good mentor in the person of Prof. Oladapo Ashiru. He became a professor at the age of 32, and nobody has broken that record up to now.
“He taught me at that time, and he said, ‘Yomi, if you want to achieve anything in life, make sure you follow the advice of your mentor who has achieved something.’ So, he advised me at that time that I must go beyond the Idi-Araba Campus here. He advised me to attend Senate, the main campus, to know more about UNILAG, and from there I got to know more distinguished academics of the university.
“Our former UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, the late Prof. Adetokunbo Sofoluwe, taught me humility. So I had people who mentored me so I could mentor others.
“One thing is that if you have experienced grace, you can give grace out. If you have not experienced goodness, you cannot give it out. You cannot give what you have not experienced,” the anatomist said.
The professor of anatomy said people should form the habit of helping others to succeed in life, saying, “It is your duty to make sure you help others, and once you do that, the circle continues from one generation to another.”
On his passion for anatomy, Okanlawon, one of UNILAG’s most distinguished academic trailblazers, said he graduated with a distinction in anatomy in 1977.
“The following year, I was appointed as a student demonstrator to come and teach my juniors—I was a student also. I was teaching those students who were a year behind in anatomy because we didn’t have anatomy lecturers.
“From my third to my fifth year, I was teaching students anatomy, and the College of Medicine was paying me N6 per hour. I was paid like doctors who were teaching them. After my youth service at the college, I just joined anatomy. Since 1982, I have been teaching anatomy,” the mentor said.
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