Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun state, has approved the appointment of Victoria Adunola Samson as the new chancellor of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo.
Samson, popularly known as “Mama BOVAS”, succeeds Folorunso Alakija, whose tenure ended on March 18, 2026.
In a statement signed by Olawale Rasheed, spokesperson to the Osun state government, on Sunday, the Osun state government said Adeleke and officials of the university visited Alakija on Friday to appreciate her contributions to the institution during her 10-year tenure as chancellor from 2016 to 2026.
The governor praised Alakija’s impact on the university, particularly the donation of the Modupe and Folorunso Alakija Medical Research and Training Hospital to the institution.
A native of Iree in Boripe local government area of Osun state, Samson was born on December 5, 1949.
According to the government, under the management of Samson and her husband, BOVAS expanded from a single filling station to more than 200 stations nationwide, employing over 2,000 Nigerians as of December 31, 2025.
Samson became the first Nigerian to win the Texaco Latin America and West Africa (LAWA) Award for Best Overall Dealer in 1990 after recording the highest sales across both regions.
She has also held several leadership positions in the oil and gas sector, including serving as matron of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) at the Ejigbo satellite depot in Lagos and Apata depot in Ibadan.
Samson is also a member of the board of trustees of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketing Association (DAPPMA).
The businesswoman holds a professional diploma in marketing and has attended leadership programmes at Harvard Business School and IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
Adeleke described Samson as a symbol of integrity, accountability and patriotism in business.
“We recognize with appreciation your distinct effort to make life easy for the consumers of petroleum products,” the governor said.
“We celebrate you and use you to represent a symbol of decency, honesty, integrity and humanity in our society.”
