FIRST Female Vice Chancellor Emerged In University of Calabar (SEE PHOTOS)

 

University of Calabar popularly known as  UNICAL today celebrated their FIRST female Vice chancellor after 45years of inception. This is a great achievement and must be celebrated.

Congratulations to UNICAL  and to every woman out there. 

Congratulations to Professor Florence Obi.

We pray that her reign will be fruitful to all. 

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Who is Professor Obi?

Professor Florence Obi of the faculty of Education and one-time deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration at the University of Calabar has emerged as the 11th Vice-Chancellor of the university.

Professor Obi emerged victorious over twelve others who were eminently qualified as well.

The persistence of Professor Obi may have paid off for her as she had contested for the same position in 2015 but lost.

Professor Florence Banku Obi is a mother of four and grandmother of six from Bansan, Osokom, Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State. With sheer grit and tenacity, she overcame all hurdles to sustain a successful academic voyage.

The journey began from St. Bridget Primary School, Ogep-Osokom in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State, through St. Thomas’s Teacher Training College, Ogoja, Cross River State, to the University of Jos, Plateau State, and from Jordan Hill College, Glasgow-Scotland to the University of Calabar, where her academic pursuit finally landed her a PhD in Psychology of Education. Her foray into academia and her monumental ascension further illustrate a line in Isaac Watt’s poem that reads, “Little drops of water make a mighty ocean”.

She began her academic career as an Assistant Lecturer at the Institute of Education, the University of Calabar in March 1990 (30 years ago). Two years after her appointment (1992), she won a 6-month postgraduate scholarship to Jordan-Hill College of Education, Glasgow, Scotland, under the World University Service (WUS), World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in a keenly contested interview for the staff of the Institute of Education.

On her return from the United Kingdom (UK), she was placed in charge of the WWF/NCF funded Schools and Community Education programmes. She subsequently facilitated the development of the degree programme in Environmental Education of the University, which had since resulted in the establishment of a full-fledged and flourishing Department of Environmental Education. Professor Obi rose through the ranks to become a Professor of Special Needs Education in 2007.