AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MANAGEMENT OF LAUTECH FROM COMR. ABDUL-KARREM YUSUF OPEYEMI (IRREDUCIBLE EMINENT)

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH)

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MANAGEMENT OF LAUTECH

A CRY FOR ACADEMIC JUSTICE FOR ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
To the Vice-Chancellor,
To the Management,
To the Senate,
To every authority entrusted with protecting the academic dignity of this great institution,
I write not in anger alone.
I write in conviction.
I write in defense of truth.
I write because silence at a time like this would be betrayal.
What is currently being proposed — the movement of Anatomy and Physiology from the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences to another faculty under Pure and Applied Sciences — is not a mere restructuring. It is not a harmless administrative shuffle. It is not just paperwork.
It is an academic statement.
And that statement, whether intentional or not, says:
“These disciplines are no longer central to medicine.”
That message is dangerous.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY ARE NOT SIDE COURSES
Anatomy is the study of the human body — its structure, its organization, its architecture.
Physiology is the study of how that body functions — how it breathes, how it pumps blood, how it regulates temperature, how it responds to stress, how it survives.
Every doctor, every surgeon, every nurse, every pharmacist, every physiotherapist, every medical laboratory scientist begins their journey with these two disciplines.
Before diagnosis, there is structure.
Before treatment, there is function.
Before surgery, there is anatomy.
Before pharmacology, there is physiology.
How then can the very foundation of medicine be administratively repositioned as if it were peripheral?

BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCES IS NOT A RANDOM LABEL

The Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences exists because medicine has a foundation.
It exists to house the sciences that form the intellectual bedrock of clinical practice.
Remove Anatomy and Physiology from that faculty, and you symbolically weaken the foundation of medical education.
This is not exaggeration.
It is reality.
If medicine is a building, Anatomy and Physiology are its pillars.
If medicine is a tree, they are its roots.
If medicine is a body, they are its skeleton and its heartbeat.
Why then are we attempting to relocate the skeleton from the body?

THIS IS NOT ABOUT STATUS — IT IS ABOUT IDENTITY

Let us speak plainly.
Moving these departments communicates academic downgrading.
It suggests that Anatomy and Physiology are equivalent to general applied sciences detached from clinical medicine.
But they are not.
A student of Human Anatomy does not merely study cells in abstraction. They dissect cadavers. They study neuroanatomy in clinical correlation. They learn surgical relevance of structures.
A Physiology student does not merely memorize formulas. They study cardiovascular dynamics, endocrine regulation, respiratory mechanics — in direct relation to disease states.
These are clinically integrated disciplines.
They are not generic sciences.

GLOBAL STANDARDS MATTER

Across reputable universities:
Anatomy and Physiology sit within Colleges of Medicine or Faculties of Basic Medical Sciences.
This structure is not accidental.
It reflects their importance in medical training.
Why should LAUTECH isolate itself from established academic tradition?
Why should this institution appear to diminish what the global academic community recognizes as foundational?
Are we progressing — or are we regressing?
WHAT MESSAGE ARE WE SENDING TO STUDENTS?
Students already battle:
Financial pressure
Academic stress
Professional uncertainty
Now imagine telling them, implicitly:
“You belong elsewhere.”
What does that do to morale?
What does that do to confidence?
What does that do to how other faculties perceive them?
Universities do not just confer degrees. They shape identity.
If we displace the foundation, we fracture that identity.

PHYSIOLOGY AND ANATOMY TRAIN THE TRAINERS

Let us remember something often forgotten:
Anatomists and Physiologists teach medical students.
They teach future surgeons.
They teach future consultants.
They teach clinical specialists.
Without them, there is no clinical competence.
The clinician who saves a life in the theatre relies on anatomical precision.
The cardiologist who interprets heart failure relies on physiological principles.
The anesthetist who manages ventilation relies on respiratory physiology.
You cannot erase the origin and expect the outcome to remain strong.
THIS IS A MATTER OF ACADEMIC JUSTICE
Restructuring should strengthen departments.
It should improve research funding.
It should enhance laboratory capacity.
It should promote interdisciplinary collaboration.
But relocation without clear academic justification risks being interpreted as reduction — not reform.
And perception matters.
Universities thrive on perception, prestige, and intellectual clarity.

IF WE CONTINUE THIS WAY…
We risk:
Diluting the meaning of Basic Medical Sciences
Confusing academic classification
Weakening professional progression pathways
Sending the wrong signal to accreditation bodies
Undermining the morale of current and prospective students
And perhaps worst of all — we risk normalizing the quiet erosion of foundational disciplines.
THIS IS A CALL FOR RECONSIDERATION
This letter is not rebellion.
It is advocacy.
It is a passionate plea for academic integrity.
We are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking for rightful positioning.
We are asking that Anatomy and Physiology remain where they naturally belong — within the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences.
We are asking management to reflect deeply:
Does this move strengthen medicine at LAUTECH?

Or does it symbolically weaken its roots?

LET HISTORY RECORD THE RIGHT DECISION
Institutions are remembered not for convenience, but for conviction.
May LAUTECH be remembered as an institution that protected its academic foundation.
May it be remembered as one that recognized that medicine begins long before the clinic , it begins in structure and function.
Let Anatomy remain where it belongs.
Let Physiology remain where it belongs.
Let the foundation remain firm.
With conviction,
With urgency,
With hope for reconsideration,
A concerned voice for academic justice.

Abdul-kareem Yusuf Opeyemi 

Irreducible Eminent