Prof. Monioluwa Omolara Olaniyi

Profile of Professor Monioluwa Omolara Olaniyi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Technology, Innovation and Research

Professor Monioluwa Omolara Olaniyi is the pioneer Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Technology, Innovation and Research at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Prior to this role, she held numerous positions within the University including member of the University Senate, member of the Governing Council of the University, Dean, Head of Department, Head of Unit, and pioneer Director of one of the largest Study Centres of the University in Nigeria (at Mushin, Lagos). In this role, Olaniyi put up an enduring structure, which formed a bedrock of it becoming one of the top 10 of the 114 Study Centres of the University in Nigeria.

As the first female and elected Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of the University,  she embarked on initiatives that resulted in changes that improved the lives of all academics within the university at large. She obtained the university Senate’s approval of a six-regional laboratory for the programmes in the faculty. In the interim, she commenced the regional mobile science laboratory exercise, which was executed in one centre across each of the six regional locations in the country. Based on students’ feedback, she recommended and designed a plan for an expanded 13-centre exercise across the six regions, which has subsequently been executed by successive Deans. She guided Departments in her Faculty to successful accreditation of their academic programmes by the National Universities Commission. She led her faculty to set the pace in academic and research development and community service including the annual exhibition of science, technology and innovation in Nigeria (tagged EXPO’), raising awareness of open and distance learning in the neighbouring communities and partnering with government Ministries and parastatals on environmental matters, particularly leading the faculty of sciences in the annual world environment day commemoration.

Professor Olaniyi served on the committees that prepared the contents and wrote the Strategic Plan, “Road map 2013-2017” and 2017-2022, also, the Academic Brief of the National Open University of Nigeria. The 2013-2017 Strategic Plan Document was critical as it laid out a path that would restructure the workings of the Open University in Nigeria and Africa. Through all her roles, Professor Olaniyi has established a legacy of enduring academic culture and strengthened the teaching, learning and operations of the National Open University of Nigeria.

As the Senior Management contact of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU’s) Partnership for Enhanced and Blended Learning (PEBL) West Africa project, Monioluwa Olaniyi leads the NOUN team as a technical partner on the project which trains selected staff from universities in Ghana and Nigeria on online facilitation and the use of Learning Management Systems. She is actively involved in policy research to improve on and develop a bespoke NOUN model of content delivery, through a data-driven process. She currently leads a NOUN Senate research team and also serves on another as a team member.

Monioluwa Omolara Olaniyi is a Professor of Nematology. She earned a doctorate degree in Applied Biological Sciences from the Catholic University of Leuven (KULeuven), an MSc. Nematology (Biology), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Biosafety of Plant Biotechnology from the University of Ghent (UG), Belgium. Prior to these programmes, she earned MSc. Agricultural Biology from the University of Ibadan, and Bachelor of Technology (BTech.) Crop Production from the Federal University of Technology, Akure in Nigeria. She was a Visiting Researcher at the University of Bonn, Germany, a Research Fellow at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and she was a Lecturer at the Federal University of Technology, Akure.

Olaniyi strengthened her IT skills with CompTIA A+ certification and she is also an Oracle Certified SQL Expert. She acquired training and expertise in the Management of Higher Education Institutions at the International Deans’ Course Africa coordinated by a consortium of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Centre for Higher Education (CHE), Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation, and the University of Osnabrück, Germany and has subsequently served as a resource person on the programme. She was a recipient of scholarship and fellowship awards for her academic training and has international research and travel grants to conferences to her credit. She has published her research results in international professional journals, books, and as technical reports. She believes in lifelong learning and updates herself through regular professional development training. Her philosophy is entrenched in inclusivity in capacity building for strategic development.