By Dayo Johnson, Akure
Ondo State Governor and Visitor to Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has approved the appointment of Professor Tomola Marshal Obamuyi as the institution’s seventh substantive Vice-Chancellor.
Obamuyi will assume office on July 8, 2026, succeeding Professor Olugbenga Ige, whose tenure ends on July 7, 2026.
A statement by the university’s Deputy Registrar, Information, Protocol and Public Relations, Victor Akinpelumi, said Obamuyi emerged as the top candidate after a competitive selection process involving 15 academics interviewed by the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board.
A Professor of Finance with over 30 years of academic experience, Obamuyi obtained his Ph.D. in Management Science from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in 2005. He also earned a Certificate in Financial Technology from the NYU Stern School of Business in 2019.
He has supervised 34 postgraduate students to completion and served as an external examiner in 223 postgraduate oral examinations across Nigeria, South Africa and India. He has also assessed 88 professorial appointments in various universities.
Obamuyi has longstanding ties with AAUA, having been part of the institution since its transition in December 1999. He previously served as Acting Head of the Department of Banking and Finance and Director of Linkages and International Programmes.
He was also the pioneer Dean of the School of Management Technology at FUTA from 2015 to 2019 and later served as Director of the University’s Advancement Centre between 2019 and 2022. He has held visiting professorships at the University of Lagos, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, and Redeemer’s University, Ede.
The new Vice-Chancellor has secured major research grants from TETFund, USAID and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor commissioned by Babson College, United States. He has authored more than 80 scholarly publications and presented academic papers in 13 countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Singapore.
In 2015, he received the Africa Education Leadership Award as the Best Professor of Banking and Finance in Africa in Mauritius. He delivered FUTA’s 99th Inaugural Lecture in 2018, titled “Finance, Entrepreneurship and Institutions: The Triple Helix for Nigeria’s Economic Growth,” and was honoured with a Festschrift in 2019.
Obamuyi is a Fellow of the Association of Entrepreneurship Scholars and the Nigerian Society for Financial Research. He is also an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), and the Fintech Association of Nigeria.
The university described him as a visionary scholar-administrator whose academic accomplishments, international exposure and administrative experience are expected to strengthen AAUA’s growth and development.
