PROF. Florence Banku Obi: THE QUINTESSENTIAL VICE-CHANCELLOR WITH THE MIDAS TOUCH

 

By Onigah Joseph

Whenever a new administration comes into power, expectations are usually high because it is expected to right the wrongs of the previous administration and reposition it for effective service and delivery. Owing to these high expectations, people often than not set an agenda for a new administration all in a bid to ensure it hits the ground running and effects necessary changes within the shortest possible time.

While some administrations are phenomenal from inception, others take time to fully settle before delivering on the much-needed change craved for by the people.

Upon assumption of office in December 2020,  the quintessential first female and eleventh Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof Florence Banku Obi hit the ground running in a grand style. 

It is trite that everything rises and falls on leadership. Despite assuming office at a time the world was ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, Prof Obi's achievements are monumentally phenomenal in all critical areas of the institution. Stakeholders of the University can congratulate themselves now that they made the right choice. Students are not left out as Prof Obi has brought smiles to the faces of students and its entire environs.

For those who have been following the activities of the University closely, it was not surprising as stakeholders of the University including students associations within and beyond rated the Vice-Chancellor very high recounting her tremendous achievements, particularly within her one year at the pinnacle of the ivory tower.

Amidst detractors, Prof Florence Obi has shown outright commitment to changing the trajectory of the University and placing it on the path of excellence.

In broad themes, see the highlights of some of these achievements below:

• STUDENTS WELFARE: In demonstrating her commitment to students' welfare, on the assumption of office, Prof Obi carried out major interventions in rehabilitating hostels that were vandalized by hoodlums in the wake of the October 2020 #EndSars protests. The hostel rehabilitation was carried out before the resumption of academic activities for the continuation of the 2019/2020 session. The hostels that were completely renovated are Halls 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, Moore Road, and Calabar Road Hostels. 

Also, in her effort to meet the National University Commission(NUC) 30 percent accommodation requirement for students,  the new Hall 10 Female 'special' hostel was adequately equipped with facilities that are currently in use. 

Prioritizing students' welfare and general wellbeing on campus, the Vice-Chancellor in her motherly wisdom upon assumption of office promptly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Health Management Organization(HMO) for the operation of the Tertiary Institution Social Health Insurance Programme which affords students who enrolled the opportunity to receive medical treatment free of charge. No wonder, she's all-around loved by students as a mother.  

•SECURITY: The vision-driven Vice-Chancellor being abreast with the lack of capacity by the Security Department which became obvious during the #EndSars protests with the University properties heavily destroyed and looted by hoodlums, 100 security personnel were trained recently while about 50 walkie-talkies were distributed to them to enhance immediate, timely and prompt responses to emergencies on campus. 

With the robust reformation of the University's security architecture, students, staff, and visitors of the University are now assured of their safety within the University of Calabar. 

•IMPROVED ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: In deepening the academic excellence of the Institution, Prof Obi has brought about the establishment of the Examination Reforms and Quality Assurance Committee. This Committee has tremendously improved on examination administration and handling. Students are more encouraged now to concentrate on what brought them to the University than ever. 

•INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: To further buttress the fact that ''what a man can do, a woman can do better'',  the first female Vice-Chancellor has blazed the trail in infrastructural development through massive construction and furnishing of new lecture pavilions, laboratories, and workshops to suit its status as a second generation institution of learning herein providing a conducive learning environment. 

In fulfilling her firmed resolve to complete all abandoned projects in the University, Obi has also completed and furnished an over a decade abandoned massive Faculty of Law block among others.  

To ensure smooth drive within the campus, the amiable first female Vice-Chancellor in partnership with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs most recently constructed asphalt roads within the University. 

GENDER EQUALITY: Today, the University of Calabar is a gender-sensitive institution. Prof Obi's administration has bridged the chasm in administrative responsibility thereby giving women more opportunities to hold positions of responsibility in the University. 

It is pertinent to state that following her appointment as the first female Vice-Chancellor of the Institution, several women have been appointed into positions of responsibility including those seen as the exclusive preserve of the menfolk. These include the Entrepreneurship Development Centre, Centre for General Studies, and the Institute of Public Policy and Administration. Being a gender-sensitive institution, student associations are in total observance of the new status quo as the Judicial Arm of the Students' Union Government(SUG), Faculty of Law students association, and the Nigerian Union of Campus Journalists, etc are all headed by females. In fact, at no time in the history of the University of Calabar have women been so recognized. 

•FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION: In her vigorous determination to fight against corruption and other short practices in the University, Prof Florence Obi centralizes all charges in the University. You could remember that before now, some Departments and Faculties exorbitantly charged students as high as N8,000(Eight Thousand Naira) to N12,000(Twelve Thousand Naira) as departmental or faculty dues respectively. But, the emergence of Prof Obi has been great succor to students and parents alike as financial burdens have been drastically reduced. The departmental and faculty dues now are as low as N2,000(Two Thousand Naira) and N4,000(Four Thousand Naira) per session and could be divided into two and paid in semesters. 

As an Apostle of transparency and accountability, Obi has shared her phone contact to students to call/text her on any suspicious short practices in the University. 

To tame any form of examination malpractice and enhance academic excellence, Obi brought the establishment of the Examination Reforms and Quality Assurance Committee and the Committee has tremendously lived up to its oars.

For every great height attained, there's always a commensurate display of stellar Leadership quality and dedicated service, and for the University of Calabar Vice-Chancellor, Prof Florence Banku Obi, history will remember her as a masterful leader with a Quintessential Midas Touch.