By Kolade Adeyemi, Jos
The newly-appointed Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. Gray Goziem Ejikeme, has assumed duty at the permanent site in Jos, Plateau state.
Ejikeme was led to his office by the outgone Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sebastian Maimako, after a brief handover, which took place at the Senate chamber.
At the ceremony, Maimako told the gathering that Ejikeme would function as the Acting Vice Chancellor while also retaining his former position as the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), pending the appointment of a substantive vice chancellor.
He said he was leaving behind a lot resources for the Acting VC to work with, including files and office equipment, an established structure, records of personnel brought into the system in the past five years as well as records of completed and ongoing infrastructure.
Maimako, who described the Prof. Ejikeme as one “with vast experience”, said he had no doubts that he would live up to expectation, urging him to build on the legacies he left behind to enable the university move forward.
He pleaded with members of the staff and students to support the new Acting VC to enable him succeed in his new assignment, pending the appointment of a substantive VC.
Prof. Ejikeme, in his acceptance speech, promised to carry everybody along in the performance of his duties and to also do his best to take the university to greater heights. He said: “With God, all things are possible to them that believe.”
The Nation had reported that agitations rocked the appointment of a substitutive vice chancellor, following claims of alleged imposition of a candidate not from the state, which brought the process to a halt. The expiration of Maimako’s tenure as VC prompted the Senate to appoint an acting VC to avoid any vacuum.
