UNILORIN unveils 13 new professors, bringing total to 144 in four years

The University of Ilorin has promoted 13 new senior lecturers to the professorial rank, raising the total number to 144 professors over the past four years.

Five among the elevated lecturers are in department of education management while the remaining eight spreads across other departments including epidemiology and community head, behavioural science, arts education, science education, while counsellor education and pharmacology and therapeutics, got two names each.

The announcement was made via the university’s Facebook page, with the full list of new professors. The promoted lecturers are Mary O. Ologe (pharmacology & therapeutics), Hafsat A. Ameen (epidemiology & community health), Oluwabunmi I. N. Buhari (behavioural sciences), A. Saidu (arts education), Aminat A. Odebode (counsellor education), and Falilat A. Okesina (counsellor education).

Those from educational management are A. T. Muritala, A. A. Lawal, A. A. Atolagbe, O. J. Ojo, and A. A. Tijani, while others include A. M. Akanmu (science education) and S. T. Abdullahi (pharmaceutical & medical chemistry).

The development, the fourth in such elevation in four years, comes nearly seven months after the university promoted 43 other senior lecturers to the professor rank in April. In May 2024, 40 lecturers were promoted and approved by Tahir Mamman, then-education minister, while 48 new professors were unveiled in December 2023, bringing the total to 144 across the four years.

According to the university, the promoted scholars were selected for excelling in teaching, research, and community service, attaining the highest rank in academia.

In Nigeria, the path to professorship typically takes 15–25 years, including more than 30 journal publications, extensive teaching experience, research impact, postgraduate supervision, and external assessment by peers.

In January 2026, the federal government unveiled a new structure for professors’ allowances in public universities as part of the renegotiated agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Under the revised CONUASS 07 and 06 structure, a professor will receive N1,740,000 per annum, while a reader’s allowance is set at N840,000 per annum.