By: Tunde Olofintila
The Board of Trustees (BOT) and the Governing Council of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, have appointed the incumbent Provost, College of Social & Management Sciences (SMS) of the 15-year-old university, Prof. Christopher Olayinka Aina, as the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic).
The appointment has taken effect from Monday, March 17, 2025.A Professor of Tourism & Hospitality Management, Aina succeeds Prof. Damilola Sunday Olawuyi, SAN, a robust academic and Legal Practitioner.
With this appointment, Aina has thus become the third Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of the university after the pioneer DVC (Academic) Prof. Yekini Olawaye Lawal (now the Director of Quality Assurance of the university) and his successor, Prof. Olawuyi.
The multi-disciplinary Aina who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban & Regional Planning – Tourism Planning Option) and a Master’s Degree from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, also holds a Ph. D Degree in Tourism & Hospitality Management from Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
A Registered Town Planner (RTP), Aina is also a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planner (MNITP), Member, Institute of Tourism Professional of Nigeria, (ITPN) and Member, Hospitality & Tourism Management Association of Nigeria (HATMAN) as well as an Associate Member of the Nigeria Environmental Society (AMNES)
Aina, who has been teaching in the university system for 25 years, joined the service of the Afe Babalola University on March 1, 2013, from Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State.
He started his Academic journey as a Graduate Assistant in Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, Oyo State in 2000 and through the dint of hard work, learning and character, rose to the zenith of his Academic career when he became a full professor in 2020.
Prof. Aina, who had previously served as Coordinator, Head of Department, Tourism and Events Management, has been the Provost of the College of Social & Management Sciences since May 1, 2023.Professor Olayinka Aina has mentored many students both at graduate and undergraduate levels, including the supervision of eight (8) Ph. D students, 12 Master’s students and numerous undergraduates, with many still on-going.
A man with a voracious appetite for hard work, Aina has authored seven textbooks, including the first bi-lingual Tourism magazine (French/English), in Nigeria. Aina, who has contributed chapters in many books also has to credit more than 60 scholarly publications and some chapters in books as part of his contributions to knowledge base.
A well-travelled Academic, the new DVC (Academic) has attended and presented Academic papers at local and international Conferences.He has served as External Examiner to Ph.D., Master and Undergraduates students in many Universities in Nigeria and South Africa.Prof. Olayinka Aina is also a reviewer to IGI Global Books and Interdisciplinary Journal of Management Studies, IJMS, (both Scopus Indexed) and ABUAD Journal of Social and Management Sciences,
(AJSMS).