President Bola Tinubu has implemented significant leadership changes across several federal universities in Nigeria, including the dissolution of the governing council at Yakubu Gowon University and the removal of Professor Aisha Maikudi as Vice-Chancellor with immediate effect.
In a statement released on Thursday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President announced that Professor Patricia Manko has been appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University for a six-month term.
However, she will not be eligible to apply for the substantive Vice-Chancellor position when it becomes available.
Senator Lanre Tejuoso, who currently serves as the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Agriculture in Makurdi, has been appointed Pro-Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University.
Tejuoso will be succeeded in Makurdi by Senator Joy Emordi, who is now the Pro-Chancellor of Alvan Ikoku University of Education.
Additionally, Tinubu made leadership changes at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Professor Polycarp Chigbu has been relieved of his duties as Acting Vice-Chancellor ahead of his tenure’s end on February 14, with Professor Oguejiofu Ujam appointed as his successor for a six-month term. Ujam will also not be eligible to apply for the permanent role.
Alongside this, General Ike Nwachukwu has been reassigned to the role of Pro-Chancellor at the University of Uyo, while Olubunmi Ojo has been appointed as the new Pro-Chancellor at UNN, replacing Nwachukwu.
Ojo, who previously held the position at the Federal University of Lokoja and the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, will now oversee UNN. Professor Zubairu Abdullahi, currently Pro-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, has been appointed as Ojo’s successor at the Federal University of Lokoja.
In other appointments, Senator Sani Stores has been named the new Pro-Chancellor of Alvan Ikoku University of Education, taking over from Senator Joy Emordi. Furthermore, Olugbenga Kukoyi, a current Council Member at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, has been appointed Pro-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State.
“All appointments and reassignment decisions are effective immediately,” the statement read.
President Tinubu emphasised that these leadership changes are part of his administration’s efforts to revitalise Nigeria’s higher education system, ensuring dynamic leadership and a focus on academic excellence and accountability.
“These restructuring efforts are aimed at strengthening governance within Nigeria’s tertiary education sector,” Onanuga concluded.
