CALABAR, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Professor Offiong E. Offiong, a former Commissioner for Education in Cross River State, has been named Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), following a competitive selection process overseen by the institution\u2019s Governing Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Offiong, a professor of Organic Chemistry and former Dean of the Faculty of Science, was selected from a pool of candidates based on his academic credentials, leadership experience, and contributions to educational reform in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His appointment marks a return to the university where he previously held key administrative roles. As Dean, he was credited with strengthening research output and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDuring his tenure as Commissioner for Education, Offiong led initiatives that improved infrastructure, teacher training, and student performance in public schools across Cross River State. His policy reforms were widely recognized for raising educational standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCross River State Governor Bassey Otu praised the appointment, calling Offiong \u201ca transformative figure in education.\u201d In a statement, the governor said the university stood to benefit from Offiong\u2019s \u201cvisionary leadership and proven track record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nOutgoing Vice Chancellor Professor Florence Banku Obi expressed confidence in her successor\u2019s ability to build on existing progress. \u201cProfessor Offiong understands the academic terrain and has the administrative depth to move UNICAL forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nProfessor Nnenna Oti, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, described Offiong as \u201ca strategic thinker with a deep commitment to institutional excellence.\u201d She added that his blend of public service and academic leadership was rare and valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUNICAL staff have welcomed the news with optimism. Dr. Grace Ekong, a senior lecturer in Biochemistry, said Offiong\u2019s familiarity with the university\u2019s internal dynamics would help him address longstanding challenges with clarity and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStudents also expressed support for the new leadership. Emmanuel Bassey, a final-year student in Political Science, said, \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that Professor Offiong will prioritize student welfare, research funding, and campus development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nOffiong is expected to assume office in November 2025. His agenda reportedly includes expanding international partnerships, improving infrastructure, and enhancing the university\u2019s reputation in science and technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CALABAR, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Professor Offiong E. Offiong, a former Commissioner for Education in Cross River State, has been named Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), following a competitive selection process overseen by the institution\u2019s Governing Council. Offiong, a professor of Organic Chemistry and former Dean of the Faculty of Science, was selected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":23063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[73,213,212,162],"class_list":["post-23060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news","tag-calabar","tag-commissioner-for-education","tag-cross-river-state","tag-university-of-calabar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/New-Unical-VC-Prof-Offiong.webp?fit=1536%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23067,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23060\/revisions\/23067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
During his tenure as Commissioner for Education, Offiong led initiatives that improved infrastructure, teacher training, and student performance in public schools across Cross River State. His policy reforms were widely recognized for raising educational standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu praised the appointment, calling Offiong \u201ca transformative figure in education.\u201d In a statement, the governor said the university stood to benefit from Offiong\u2019s \u201cvisionary leadership and proven track record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outgoing Vice Chancellor Professor Florence Banku Obi expressed confidence in her successor\u2019s ability to build on existing progress. \u201cProfessor Offiong understands the academic terrain and has the administrative depth to move UNICAL forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Nnenna Oti, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, described Offiong as \u201ca strategic thinker with a deep commitment to institutional excellence.\u201d She added that his blend of public service and academic leadership was rare and valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNICAL staff have welcomed the news with optimism. Dr. Grace Ekong, a senior lecturer in Biochemistry, said Offiong\u2019s familiarity with the university\u2019s internal dynamics would help him address longstanding challenges with clarity and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students also expressed support for the new leadership. Emmanuel Bassey, a final-year student in Political Science, said, \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that Professor Offiong will prioritize student welfare, research funding, and campus development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Offiong is expected to assume office in November 2025. His agenda reportedly includes expanding international partnerships, improving infrastructure, and enhancing the university\u2019s reputation in science and technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CALABAR, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Professor Offiong E. Offiong, a former Commissioner for Education in Cross River State, has been named Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), following a competitive selection process overseen by the institution\u2019s Governing Council. Offiong, a professor of Organic Chemistry and former Dean of the Faculty of Science, was selected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":23063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[73,213,212,162],"class_list":["post-23060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news","tag-calabar","tag-commissioner-for-education","tag-cross-river-state","tag-university-of-calabar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/New-Unical-VC-Prof-Offiong.webp?fit=1536%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23067,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23060\/revisions\/23067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}