UNICAL VC Lauds BOT As Trust & Endowment Fund Holds Maiden Meeting
By Abraham UKPA
Consistent with her determination to reposition the Institution, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Banku Obi, has praised the passion and initiative of the Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the University's Trust and Endowment Fund (T&EF).
Prof. Obi gave the commendation while delivering a presentation on the University at the Inaugural meeting of the T&EF-BOT held at the Council Chambers of the institution in Calabar.
While welcoming the BOT members, both physically and virtually present, the Vice Chancellor recalled how upon his being honoured with an honoris causa, the BOT Chairman, H/E, Mr Donald Duke, an erstwhile Governor of Cross River State, pledged to set up an endowment fund for the University.
She thanked members of the T&EF-BOT for accepting to partner with the University towards the institution's sustained growth and development.
Accordingly, the VC made a two-part presentation to the meeting: first, an audio presentation chronicling the historical development of the University from when it was a campus of the University of Nigeria in 1975 till date, while the second part gave a statistical breakdown of the University in terms of its population, funding sources and ranking.
According to the Vice Chancellor, the University currently has a population of about 46,240 students comprising 43,500 undergraduates and 2,740 Postgraduate students, adding that, the institution has about 16 hostels catering for about 3,400 students representing less than 8% of the student population; a far cry from the 30% NUC Benchmark.
She added that, the ratio of Non-Teaching to Academic staff strength also falls short of the NUC Benchmark which stipulates 1 non-teaching staff to 3 academic staff.
In her submission, the University of Calabar is placed 12th out of 170 in the ranking of universities released in 2022; 8th in students population; 1st in female students population; 9th in terms of full professors and 1st for female professors, as well as, 10th in the ranking for institutions with full programme accreditation, this is even as she informed that Unical is ranked 14 in the nation and 3075 out of about 25,000 universities globally as released by Webo-Metrics.
While concluding her presentation which included a detailed SWOT Analysis of the University, Prof. Obi highlighted the challenges and efforts of management to address the issues with transcripts, harping on the desire to institutionalize academic excellence through sustained drive against corruption in the varsity.
Prof. Obi used the occasion to reiterate the need for support to sustain the infrastructural development efforts of Management, especially the need for providing an ultra-modern Medical Centre, hosting of the forthcoming NUGA games and the more recent structural defect of the University Library.
In his remarks, the Unical T&EF-BOT Chairman, Mr. Donald Duke, said the BOT was set up as an avenue to support the University, adding that, as a body, it is independent of the University.
Acknowledging that the issues raised by the Vice Chancellor were not peculiar to Unical, because according to him, there is too much dependence on the Federal Government for funding, Duke expressed belief that galvanizing support for the institution through appropriating available networks to key individuals would go a long way.
The Chairman also said they were in the University to familiarise themselves with the University, as well as strategise on the way forward.
“The primary aim is to look outside the box, indeed, throw away the box, in finding ways to help the University".
In separate remarks, members of the BOT who joined the meeting online including erstwhile CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Dr. ABC Orjiakor and Mrs. Winifred Akpani, were unanimous with other counterparts in appreciating the initiative, while pledging their commitment to the course.
Members of the BOT generally commended the Vice Chancellor for her detailed presentation.
The high-profile meeting which was chaired by his Excellency, Mr. Donald Duke, had in attendance, the Deputy Vice Chancellors, Academic and Administration, Professors Angela Oyo-Ita and Eno Grace Nta, respectively.
Others include the National President, Unical Alumni Association, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, Sam Okwulehie, Kashim Sha' awanatu, Kayode Komolafe, Ummahani Amin and the Director, Unical Trust and Endowment Fund Ltd/GTE, Mrs Ann Oden.
