Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has congratulated the newly appointed Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Professor Charles Esimone, calling his appointment most deserving.
Professor
Esimone beat 37 other contestants, according to the Pro chancellor and Chairman
of the Governing Council of the university, Alhaji Azeez Oladotun Bello, who
announced that the appointment will last five years with effect from June 4.
In a
statement in Awka, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment,
Mr C. Don Adinuba, stated that Governor Obiano in the congratulatory message
described Professor as “easily the best man for the job.
“Having
served the university as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) and founding Dean
of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, it is difficult to think of a more
prepared person for the job”.
A graduate
of the University of Nigeria at Nsukka, Professor Esimone is a Fellow of the
Nigerian Academy of Science, a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Academy of Nigeria
and a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria.
The new
Vice Chancellor became a full professor at only 37 years, making him one of the
youngest professors ever in the Nigerian university system.
“Having
displayed excellence in research and teaching, Professor Esimone is now
required to display uncanny leadership as the UNIZIK Vice Chancellor”, Governor
Obiano noted.
Obiano
continued: “Nnamdi Azikiwe University is not just another federal higher
institution, but one named for the greatest person from West Africa in over two
centuries, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, GCFR, PC, the man who led to Nigeria to
independence and inspired a generation of great African nationalists like Kwame
Nkrumah of Ghana.
“Therefore,
Professor Esimone should always be conscious of the special place of this
higher institution in Nigerian--nay African—cosmology.
“UNIZIK
has to do more than ever to produce graduates and researchers who can help
drive Africa’s competitiveness in the age of globalization.
“This will
be much in line with the vision of the Great Zik of Africa who spent all his
life devoted to the emancipation of all Africans and Black people throughout
the world, so that we can take our rightful position in the comity of nations.
“Products
of the University of Nigeria at Nsukka which Zik founded in 1960 were competing
favourably with their counterparts from top universities across the world as
early as the 1960s, just as those of the University of Lagos where Zik served
as the Pro Chancellor in the 1960s”.
The
governor also expressed satisfaction with the contributions of two scholars
from Nnamdi Azikwe University, Professor Kate Omenugha, the Commissioner for
Basic Education, and her counterpart in the Ministry of Tertiary Education,
Professor Theresa Obiekezie, to the growth of the state.
Acknowledging
the critical place of higher education in the development of nations, Governor
Obiano regretted that out of the 43 federal and 48 state universities as well
as 79 privately owned ones in Nigeria, only the University of Ibadan and
Covenant University in Ogun State could make the list of the world’s top 1,000
universities in the latest annual Times Higher Education survey, which is the
most respected and influential of such studies across the globe.
“The
Anambra State Government will not hesitate to assist UNIZIK become a more
competitive university”, assured Obiano.
Signed
C. Don
Adinuba
Commissioner
for Information & Public Enlightenment.
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