How Abraham Osinubi rose through the ranks to shape Postgraduate Education in Nigeria

By Mustapha Hassan

Professor Abraham Osinubi has spent much of his professional career working across medicine, university administration and postgraduate education, holding positions that have placed him at the centre of academic decision-making within Nigeria’s higher education system.

While his career began in clinical medicine after graduating from the University of Ibadan, it gradually evolved through teaching, research and academic administration at the University of Lagos, where he has served in several leadership capacities over the past two decades.

His current position as Dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos, places him in charge of policies relating to postgraduate admissions, research supervision, thesis examination and academic standards across the institution.

Speaking during his inaugural lecture titled The Anatomist: Jack-of-all-Trades, Master of All, Osinubi argued that anatomy has developed beyond its traditional boundaries and now intersects with several disciplines in medicine and biomedical sciences.

“The anatomist is no longer confined to the dissection room. The discipline continues to contribute to medical education, biomedical research and clinical practice in different ways,” he said.

His administrative responsibilities at the University of Lagos did not begin with his current appointment.

He previously served as Acting Head of the Department of Anatomy before becoming substantive Head of Department. Earlier, he headed the Department of Anatomy at Lagos State University, a position that exposed him to curriculum development, staff administration and academic planning.

Between 2012 and 2014, he served as Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, where he participated in faculty administration and coordinated several academic activities. He later became the Pioneer Executive Director of the University of Lagos Business School, an appointment that introduced him to executive education and institutional management outside the traditional medical sciences.

His administrative experience has also extended beyond the university.

He served as Chairman of the Board of Medilag Consult, the University’s healthcare consultancy arm, after previously serving as its director. In 2022, he was appointed Global Programme Director of Unicorn Group, where he coordinated programmes across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Egypt.

Within Nigeria’s university system, Osinubi has participated in several committees responsible for academic planning, curriculum review, postgraduate education, examinations and institutional governance.

In 2025, he chaired the National Universities Commission accreditation panel that evaluated the Medicine and Surgery programme at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. The exercise formed part of the commission’s routine quality assurance process for medical education in Nigerian universities.

He is also a member of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos, the institution’s highest decision-making bodies, and serves as Chairman of the Basic Medical Sciences Section of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

His career also reflects long-standing participation in professional associations.

Over the years, he has served as Secretary-General and later Vice-President of the Endocrine and Metabolism Society of Nigeria. He was Treasurer of the Nigerian Chapter of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and became the first Editor-in-Chief of the University of Lagos Journal of Basic Medical Sciences, a journal established to publish research from the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Clinical Endocrinologists of Nigeria.

Colleagues who have worked with him say his interest has consistently extended beyond classroom teaching.

A senior academic at the University of Lagos, who requested not to be named because he was not authorised to speak officially, described him as someone who devoted considerable attention to postgraduate education and academic development.

“He has spent many years working with postgraduate students and university committees. His experience covers teaching, research and administration, and those responsibilities have continued to expand over time,” the academic said.

Osinubi’s professional development has also included training outside medicine. In addition to qualifications in anatomy and medicine, he obtained a Master of Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University and completed executive programmes in leadership, governance, board responsibilities, digital marketing and strategic management in Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco. He is a graduate of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, where he bagged a certificate in Policy, Strategy and Leadership in 2024.

The additional training reflects a growing trend among university administrators seeking management skills alongside academic qualifications as higher education institutions increasingly confront issues relating to governance, funding, innovation and institutional competitiveness.

Professor Abraham Osinubi’s thought leadership in organizational strategy is reflected in his groundbreaking article, “Rethinking Blue Ocean Strategy in Disruptive Uncertain Times,” published in the Lagos Business and Management Review (2022), in which he offers fresh insights into strategic management in an era of disruption and uncertainty.

Across his years in academia, Professor Osinubi has served on numerous university committees covering curriculum development, medical education, postgraduate programmes, academic planning, staff development and student affairs.

He has also participated in the selection of senior university officers and contributed to institutional policy through Senate committees and academic boards.

Although much of his public profile has been associated with anatomy and biomedical research, a significant part of his career has been devoted to university administration.

His appointments over the years illustrate the expanding role of academics in managing higher education institutions, where responsibilities increasingly extend beyond teaching and research to include governance, policy implementation, quality assurance and institutional development.

For Osinubi, that journey has taken him from the anatomy laboratory and lecture theatre to some of the highest administrative offices within the University of Lagos, reflecting a career shaped as much by academic leadership as by scholarship.