The Chairman, University of Calabar Governing Board, Dr. Udom Ekpoudom on Monday said that there’s a strong indication that the newly elected Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Cross River State, Prof. Offiong Effanga Offiong will deliver to the expectations of the people of the institution.
Speaking to newsmen in Uyo shortly after his arrival from Calabar, the Cross River State capital after supervising the week long election process, Udom Ekpoudom is also a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, said that the process that led to the emergence of Prof. Offiong Effange Offiong as UNICAL new Vice Chancellor was a tedious one, saying that the best emerged at the end of the day.
He noted that the election of Prof. Offiong has elated the minds of the people, describing him as the best man for the job.
Speaking further, Ekpoudom added: “ The current Vice Chancellor will finish her tenure in the next four weeks, that’s on the last day in November this year, and the new one will take over from her.
The election was a long process which started from an advertisement to setting up the committee to screen all applicants to make sure that the person has all the qualifications we were looking for, before they were asked to appear before us.
The committee was made up of five people; two members of the university senate, two members from the council and of course, I was the chairman. The process went well, though it wasn’t easy to select one person amongst twenty something Professors.
In fact, there was a rumour that there was going to be trouble, but as far as I was in charge, there wouldn’t be any trouble because my God is always with me. So, the election came and finished where one Professor Offiong clearly emerged as the winner and we thank God for that. It was keenly contested, but very peaceful. We finished the election three days ago, and up till now, we’ve not heard that there’s any problem.
“People are happy that the best man was elected for the job. Again, Prof. Offiong is a very good man. He has been a Professor for twenty something years. He is a former commissioner in Cross River state. From his performance, testimonies from people, and from records, he will not let us down.
He’s coming to develop UNICAL. The aspect that I like in him most, apart from the fact that he is very intelligent, he does not discriminate; whether you are from Cross River state or not.”
Speaking further on some behaviours he will like the new vice chancellor to work on, Ekpoudom said: “There are few things I never liked in the present administration. One of them is the idea people complain about paying for admission, it’s nonsense.
I don’t like the idea that when you have vacancy to employ people, you collect money because the ones that are coming for employment are people like you. And I want to believe that the new VC will address that,” he said.
