BEVERLY HILLS, September 11, (THEWILL) – Professor Florence Banku Obi has been appointed the 11th substantive Vice-chancellor of the University of Calabar (UNICAL). She would be the first woman to be the institution’s VC in 45 years.
Professor Florence Banku Obi whose appointment would take effect from November, would take over from Professor Zana Akpagu.
Announcing the result on Friday in Calabar, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, Pro- Chancellor and Chairman of Unical Governing Council, said “the process of the selection was transparent. The Council assured the 13 contestants for the position of a transparent, fair and just selection process.”
She explained that they used the guidelines set up by the Federal Ministry of Education on the conduct of interview for the appointment of a Vice Chancellor. “At the end of the day, we had a brand new first female VC of the University in the last 45 years. The interview was transparent and some of the contestants are part of our Council. What I expect of her is to look at what the outgoing VC has done because governance is a continuous process. She should invite all those who contested with her and build a team. No one person can execute the programmes without the integration of other erudite administrators that presented their CVs yesterday.
“She should be an integrative agent and I expect her to look inward on the areas of internally generated revenue and pluck the areas. She needs to motivate staff and students of the school and as an erudite Professor and a mother, I know that she will bring all these to bear,” she said.
She congratulated Prof. Banku-Obi and wished her the best in her tenure.
Reacting to her appointment, Prof. Banku-Obi, said she was elated and happy, adding that she returned all the glory to God.
“I am very happy today, I just received my appointment letter from the 12th Council as the 11th VC elect effective from Dec. 1, 2020. It was a free and fair contest and I am happy about it. The University of Calabar should expect an inclusive administration from me,” she said.
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Florence is a mother of four from Bansan Osokom, Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State.
She has been a Professor of Special Needs Education for 13 years. Her leadership role in University of Calabar began in 1993 immediately after her return from a Scholarship programme in Jodan Hill College, Glasgow, UK, when as an Assistant Lecturer, she was appointed Coordinator, World-Wide Fund for Nature/Nigerian Conservation Foundation (WWF/NCF) funded Schools and Community Education programmes in 1993.
Prof. Banku has over 60 publications to her credit in both local and international journals. She has supervised over 30 postgraduates Diploma Projects, 12 Master’s Degrees Theses and 8 Ph.D. Dissertations and has so far assessed 13 persons for professorial positions.
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