Prof Loto, ex UNIMED DVC fingers in corrupt acts

Former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, Ondo State, Prof Adolphus Odogun Loto has been fingered in different corrupt and anti people acts in the university.

The former Deputy Vice Chancellor who was alleged to be involved in some unscrupulous acts which led to his removal from office, was said to have been going around castigating the current administration in the university under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi.

Findings revealed that Prof Loto was found culpable of different allegations leveled against him ranging from poor academic performance, poor handling of projects monitored by him and maladministration.

A deep search into the profile of Loto revealed that he was first appointed on sabbatical for one year at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo as an Associate%a Professor in the faculty of Dental Science and assumed duty on the 5th of April, 2018. 

It was learnt that upon his request, his sabbatical was extended by six months till the 4th of October, 2019.

Before his appointment at the University, it was learnt that Prof. Loto’s last appointment was as a Senior Lecturer in the department of dentistry of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Idi-Araba, Lagos State.

Loto who started his career as an academic staff in 1993, it was gathered was not appointed Senior Lecturer till 2012 due to his low performance in academics and the highest level he attained in the university was that of a senior lecturer.

It was alleged that Prof. Loto held LASU to ransom for a couple of years, even as he refused to give up the keys to his office when he left the institution for a stint in the Middle East. 

Despite being appointed a senior lecturer in 2012, it was gathered that Prof Loto could still not attain the next level which was that of a Reader/Associate Professor till he left for his sabbatical at UNIMED in 2017.

Further findings revealed that, as at February, 2024 Loto has only one article attributed to him on PUBMED (the International Medical and Health Publication Database) and his indexed article was published in 1998.

It was reliably gathered that Professor Loto first applied to UNIMED for appointment as a professor and was only recommended for Readership which 

was what the university offered him on a sabbatical appointment in February 2018.

Keen observers within the academia noted that the circumstances that Professor Loto became appointed as a professor by UNIMED about 18

months after his first appointment as Associate Professor without any improved or increased research output was very strange, questionable and raises strong allegations of nepotism. 

There were strong suspicions that the university was held at the jugular to appoint Loto as a Professor to secure accreditation for its dentistry programme, particularly due to his relationship with some power brokers in the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council of Nigeria. 

It was alleged that in the last five years, Prof Loto has not had a single publication to his name nor won any research grant in UNIMED or throughout his entre academic career. 

In the academic world today, any academic worth his salt is measured by research grants, in many universities even Graduate Assistants and Associate Lecturers get institutional grants of as low as N2,000,000:00 (Two Million 

Naira). 

However, it is laughable that a professor would leave his office at 4 pm and sit at his beer parlour 

till quite late at night and be expected to be productive. 

A source hinted that "Loto spend most of his time gloating over his imagined victories over Lagos State University College of Medicine and how he facilitated the removal of the King of his hometown while consuming bottles of stout and holding court over largely jobless and low-leve individuals."

Loto who was first appointed as the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration and Clinical Services) in UNIMED allegedly appointed his kinsmen and loyalists even though they did not have 

the required knowledge about construction, which was the area they were appointed to.

 He was alleged of complicity on different projects he supervised in the university including the Akinlaja building in the university.

Loto, according to findings had headed the  Direct Labour Committee of the university where he supervised projects and also saddled with the responsibility of signing office checks 

for payment and scrutinizing any approval given by the Vice-Chancellor as a form of checks and 

balances. 

As head of the Direct Labour Committee, Professor Loto allegedly undertook the completion of the 

abandoned Honorable Akinlaja Constituency project and the Faculty of Medical Rehabilitation 

Building and reportedly sidetracked all the professionals in the committee and recruited some of his loyalists even though they did not have the required knowledge about construction. 

"Professor Loto is an individual who believes he knows more than everybody, he would on every occasion try to rubbish the expert advice given by Architects, Engineers and Quantity Surveyors. He would glibly state that as a Dentist what he does 

is construction and he also uses the same materials as these professionals in the mouth.  

"Akinlaja building was a monumental disaster, the plumbing has been a constant hel, and the tiles have begun to swel up. Almost all the doors in the building do not shut, it is a major outrage. 

"Professor Loto recruited, selected and transported workers from Lagos and elsewhere outside Ondo 

to do all the work on that building. The Medical Rehabilitation Building was also another unmitigated disaster.The roofing still leaks terribly till date, and the University was recently embarrassed at an 

accreditation exercise where massive leakages of the in the presence of external accreditors and guests.Most of these were caused by the use of substandard materials in carrying out the construction of both facilities.

"To ease their operations the Bursary Department of the University requestedfor deployment of software for their operations. After due diligence and due process were followed by the University in 

addition to studying the experience of other Universities using the software, the Governing Council approved the purchase of the software. 

"Prior to the approval by the Governing Council, Professor Loto went around lobbying and requesting that the contract for the software be given to his son who 

is a Software Engineer.

"Professor Loto was always a part of the procurement processes and well aware of the strides that the University has made over the last few years at ensuring that due process was followed. However, 

due to some primordial sentiments and his unholy alliance with Mr. Oadipo Olalekan who has been on a crusade to become the Director of Procurement of the University. Before the administration of 

Professor Adesegun Fatusi, the university had no procurement guidelines and the Chief Supply Officer, Mr Oladipo Olaekan, hijacked the process and annexed it to his office.

"He engaged in 

several misconducts, which earned him queries, and at a time dared to even hijack a letter sent to the VC by a contractor and treated it. Such was the situation on the ground which made the VC decide to set up a procurement unit and not to let Mr Oalekan transit to the procurement despite 

many letters he wrote the VC to that effect.Mr. Olalekan’s period in charge of procurement was rife with corrupt practices and the purchase of substandard items for the University. 

If not for the 

intervention of a highly placed political figure in Ondo State, Mr. Oladipo would have been dismissed from the services of the University for corrupt practices. It is laughable that Professor Loto with all 

the “integrity” he claims has now decided to coronate Mr. Oladipo his special adviser on procurement 

not remembering his antecedence. From investgations, Mr. Oladipo’s former place of employment, 

the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology Okitipupa, it can be observed that he 

has inconsistent work history where he was on CONTISS 8.

"On the 11th of November, 2021, the National Assocation of Nigerian Students picketed the Laje and 

Odosida campuses of UNIMED. Professor Loto and the then Chief Security Officer of the University, Captain Harrison Akinfoyewa Rtd. and a Security Officer armed themselves with Pump Action Guns 

and threatened to shoot at the NANS contingent that came to protest the increase in school fees by UNIMED. This was a highly irresponsible action by a DVC who allowed his sense of reason to be 

beclouded by the eccentric CSO, who is his cousin, confidant and partner in crime. This irresponsible 

behavior inflamed the NANS contingent and what should have been a peaceful engagement almost 

turned into a violent protest.The Vice-Chancellor who was not around at the time of the incident was 

inundated with complaints of the confrontational behavior of the duo from NANS when he later meet," the source added.

It was gathered that a female junior staff wrote a petition against two very senior male staff of the university, alleging sexual harassment. 

As an institution that has zero tolerance for such behaviour, it was learnt that the Vice Chancellor immediately set up a panel to investigate the matter and upon the submission of the report 

to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Loto started making calls requesting to know why the report of the panel did not favour the petitioner. 

Prior to the determination of the petition by the Governing Council, Professor Loto was alleged to have externalized the matter and tried to bring outside influence to bear on a matter that was before the Council, a situation which was said to be unethical.

It was learnt that Loto has always bragged with the name of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa whom he said is his cousin and thereby uses his name to foment dastardly acts.