President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced significant leadership changes at several federal universities, effective immediately.
According to a statement from the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the changes are part of the administration’s commitment to revitalising Nigeria’s higher education system through dynamic leadership and accountability.
The University of Abuja has been renamed Yakubu Gowon University. To succeed Maikudi, Professor Lar Patricia Manko has been appointed acting vice chancellor for a six-month term. She will not be eligible to apply for the substantive Vice-Chancellor position.
At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Professor Polycarp Emeka Chigbu was removed as Acting Vice-Chancellor before his tenure’s official end on February 14. Professor Oguejiofu T.
Ujam has been appointed as his successor for six months, also ineligible for the permanent position.
Changes at UNN extend to the role of Pro-Chancellor, with Gen. Ike Nwachukwu reassigned to the University of Uyo.
Engineer Olubunmi Kayode Ojo, formerly the Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja and the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, is now the new Pro-Chancellor of UNN.
Professor Zubairu Tajo Abdullahi, the current Pro-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, will replace Ojo at the Federal University of Lokoja.
Senator Sani Stores has been appointed as the new Pro-Chancellor of Alvan Ikoku University of Education, succeeding Senator Joy Emordi.
Additionally, Barrister Olugbenga Kukoyi, a Council Member at UNN, has been appointed as the new Pro-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
The statement emphasised that these leadership changes are aimed at strengthening governance and promoting academic excellence in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.