Prof. Olatunji Okesola

Deputy Vice Chancellor

Professor Olatunji Okesola, an erudite scholar and a professor of Cyber Security, is the second substantive Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the McPherson University, Seriki Sotayo, Ogun State.

Prior to his appointment at McPherson University, he was a professor at the Department of Computer Sciences, First Technical University (Tech-U), Ibadan,  and was Head of Computer Science Department as well as the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The new DVC was educated at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (Now Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta), and Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, where be bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics & Computer Sciences and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Finance respectively. He also obtained a Master of Science Degree (M.Sc) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Computer Science from the University of Lagos and University of South Africa respectively.

Professor Okesola is a member of notable professional organisations, notably:  Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), Computer Professionals of Nigeria (CPN), and a Fellow of Nigerian Computer Society (FNCS) among others.

He was also a former Head of Department of Computer Sciences, and the second ICT Director of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode between year 2008 and 2011. He was the Chairman of ICT Steering committees at both Universities, and has served in various Committees including but not limited to Faculty Review; Students Enrolment; and Research, Development and Innovation.

At various times, Professor Okesola was the Group Head of Information Systems (IS) Control and Revenue Assurance (RA) at Keystone Bank (Nig.) Ltd, Group Head of Information Technology Control at Intercontinental Bank, Lagos, and Head of Information Technology (IT) Audit at First Bank of Nig., Lagos.

He has contributed majorly to the field of Cyber Security with focus on Information Security Awareness, Control, Audit, and Revenue Assurance. He has been particularly addressing technology security issues as related to credit risk management on loans and advances, physical and logical access controls, Information Systems (IS) Audit, and organizational revenue assurance.

Over the year, Professor Okesola has established himself as a leader in these areas through his outstanding Information Security Industrial Experience both in banking and academia.

In Nigeria banking sector, Professor Okesola proactively created information security awareness program, and implemented information security management systems (ISO 27001) certification. He also successfully run the Security Information and Event Management system (SIEM) and other security systems, ensuring appropriate actions are taken and irregularities are flagged for immediate action.

As required by the national and international regulators towards ensuring information security and adequate protection of the stakeholders’ interests. He was responsible for setting up an ICT library, monitored systems and users’ access, established IS controls, and conducted Technology Security Audit in several banks in Nigeria.

Professor Okesola led the implementation teams of many IS projects where Quality Assurance tests were conducted as required, and computer related irregularities were investigated and reported for Executive Management’s decision. Towards minimizing income leakages and organizational information security vulnerabilities, Okesola produced a Credit Score for credit risk management on loans and advances to promote organizational Revenue Assurance. Similarly, he led teams on deployment of IT tools for ease of business operation and disaster recovery planning. He has served at senior management capacities in various banks on Information Security related issues, and supervised, trained, and mentored IS auditors.

As a scholar, Professor Okesola set up technology laboratory and library, and engaged in various empirical studies that produced a pedagogical adaptive model and framework of blended learning for tertiary institutions to investigate its impacts on employability in Nigeria. His research cluster has exploited Iris chattels to address biometric issues especially with women in purdah by designing and Implementing a Student Attendance System and Biometric doors among others.

Interestingly, Professor Okesola is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and a Certified Information Systems (IS) Auditor (CISA). He is a member of a number of international research bodies and is an External Examiner to a number of universities. He has supervised quite a number of projects at Postgraduate Diploma, Masters and Ph.D levels, and has several publications in scholarly journals and conference proceedings. These publications are of high quality and standard as over 85% of them are indexed on Scopus and 98% on Google scholar.

Professor Okesola’s work experience is cognate in both industry and academia, and spans over three decades. He is well reputed nationally and internationally especially in the areas of Cyber security, Biometrics, Software engineering, e-business and Revenue Assurance.

He enjoys watching football, and playing Long Tennis and local Ayo game. He is happily married with children.