Professor Florence Obi Emerges UNICAL First Female VC 

Professor Florence Obi Emerges UNICAL First Female VC

Professor Florence Obi has emerged as the first female Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar.

Obi clinched the position on Thursday, September 10 after hours of meeting by the governing council of the institution led by Senator Nkechi Nwaogu.

The screening which was held at the UNICAL hotel conference center lasted for hours and a total of 13 aspirants were screened.

Obi is the 11th Vice-Chancellor of the UNICAL after 45 years since the institution was established.

Obi before emerging VC was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) Academics. She was also a member of the University Governing Council, where she used her wealth of experience in the growth and development of the University.

She served as the Commissioner, Ministry of Women Affairs, and Social Development and member of the Cross River State Executive Council in 2007.

Obi will take over from Professor Zana Akpagu, whose tenure ends on November 30, 2020.

The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council, UNICAL, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, who announced the emergence of Obi on Friday, congratulated her for emerging the first female Vice-Chancellor of the 45-year-old institution.

Nwaogu described Obi as “an astute educational icon” and prayed for the success of her tenure as Vice-Chancellor of UNICAL.

“You can see the tranquility in this governing council. What we assured the university community is that we were going to be transparent, open, fair, and just.

“There is a guideline from the Ministry of Education as to how to conduct interview for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor. There are so many parameters we had to look into and that is exactly what we did,” she said.

She said Obi’s emergence is a victory for the women and said the 10th Governing Council expects her to build on what the outgoing Vice-Chancellor had done.

“What I expect from her is to look at what the outgoing Vice-Chancellor has done, governance is a continuum, start from where he has stopped and ensure there is integration even amongst all the people that contested with her,” Nwaogu said.

Also speaking, Obi promised to run an inclusive administration, adding, “I’m happy and return all the glory to God. I have just received my appointment letter from the 12th Council as Vice Chancellor-elect. The process was free and fair, and I promise to run an inclusive administration.”