The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has elected Professor Joy Eyisi as the first female Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) in the history of the institution.
According to a statement issued by NOUN’s Director of Press and Publicity, Ibrahim Sheme, the new DVC-Academics officially assumed duty on Thursday in Abuja.
Sheme said Eyisi emerged victorious in an election conducted by the university Senate on Wednesday.
He said that the election was to fill the slot which became vacant at the expiration of the tenure of Prof. Patrick Eya.
“Eya is expected to resume in December as the director of the university’s Regional Training for Open and Distance Learning.
“Eyisi, the immediate past director of NOUN’s special study centre located at the National Assembly, is the first female DVC in the history of the university.
“A professor of English language, she hails from Adazi-Ani, Ani-Ocha local government area of Anambra state.
“Her tenure is for two years,’’ he said.
Sheme said that at the brief handover ceremony held NOUN’s headquarters in Abuja, the new DVC thanked her predecessor for his fatherly advice and the university management for the confidence it reposed in her.
The director said that the event was witnessed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, who felicitated with both Eya and Eyisi – one for successfully completing his tenure and the other for her victory.
Sheme said that Adamu reiterated his often-repeated confidence in NOUN’s women community, saying the women in the university were some of the best in Nigerian academia.
“Eyisi’s election has reaffirmed the balancing act in the university whereby every geopolitical zone in the country is represented in NOUN’s management structure,’’ he quoted the vice-chancellor as saying. (NAN)
