The immediate past Vice Chancellor
of the university, Professor Bartho Okolo has said that he was leaving the
university “better, richer and stronger” than the one he inherited at inception
of his tenure five years ago.
Speaking during a farewell ceremony
organised by the University of Nigeria for Okolo, the 13th vice chancellor of
the institution, Okolo said he was leaving office a happy man, knowing that all
the choices his administration made were for the best interest of the
University. He said that some of the decisions
his administration took might have been despised by some people, but the
results of his choices would impact positively on the University in the years
to come. Continue after the cut...
“I have no doubt in my mind that I
am handing over a university that is better, richer and stronger than the one I
inherited five years ago. Even detractors and pessimists acknowledge the far
reaching developments that have taken place in our university”, he said.
Prof. Okolo said that although his
administration was maligned by some disgruntled individuals in the University,
he bears no grudges against anyone. “It is my wish that no other
Vice-Chancellor experiences the kind of distraction, disrespect and impudence
that I had to endure in the course of my tenure.
However, for the records, I do not
bear grudges, largely because the dramatist personae are not deserving of my
long term emotions”, he said. He implored the University community
to support the in-coming administration to enable it achieve greater
development for the University, stating that UNN is not likely to go back to
where it used to be.
Chairman of the occasion and former
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Prof. Oleka K. Udeala described
Okolo as “an award winning Vice-Chancellor, a magician of no mean repute and a
man who sees danger as his business”. Udeala, a professor of pharmacy, was the
first alumnus to be appointed Vice Chancellor of the institution.
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