The new acting Vice Chancellor of the Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Professor Sunday Olowo Samuel, has pledged to restore the hopes and pride of the university.
He made the pledge on Monday when he took over from the outgone acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Sonny Adagbonyin, at a brief handing over ceremony held at the Vice Chancellor’s Conference Hall of the university.
Prof. Sunday Olowo Samuel, who was recently appointed as the Provost of the College of Medical Sciences of the university, promised to run an all-inclusive administration with the welfare of staff as priority.
“I want to assure you that I am determined to work tirelessly with the governing council to restore the hope and pride of this university,” he stated, pledging to give immediate attention to issues bordering on staff welfare with a view to resolving them within the shortest possible time.
He expressed gratitude to God for the opportunity to serve as acting vice chancellor, and thanked Governor Godwin Obseki for setting up a vibrant Governing Council, describing it as a round peg in a round hole.
The chairman of Council and Pro-chancellor of the university, Dr. Frank Odafen, explained that the decision to bring the new acting Vice Chancellor on board was to infuse new vitality, adding that the new chief executive would pilot a new trajectory that would take the university to an enviable height,
He noted that the outgone vice chancellor was not sacked as reported in some sections of the media, but said he was only stepping aside for fresh blood to drive the system.
The outgone vice chancellor in his handing over speech expressed gratitude to God and Governor Obaseki for the opportunity granted him and his team to contribute their quota to the development of the university, and expressed hope that the new acting Vice Chancellor would use his talent and energy to move the university forward.
Speaking on his achievements, he said he and his team were able to stabilize the academic calendar of the university, regularly paid gross salary before the 27th of every month and digitized the university’s operations, including Computer Based Examination (CBE) and the processing of transcripts, among others.
The highpoint of the handing over ceremony was the formal presentation of the handing over documents to the new acting vice chancellor by the outgone vice chancellor.