By Frank Ulom
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – The outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Florence Obi, has stated that she is not going to run for any election after her term elapses; rather, she would go back to the classroom.
Prof. Obi stated this on Friday, 28 November 2025, in an interview with journalists during a parade on campus to mark the end of her 5-year tenure as the 11th substantive VC of the citadel of learning.
According to Obi, “I would never go into any elective office. I would run no elections, but I am ready for service in Nigeria.
“If the government feels I can contribute my part, I am ready, but not for an elective position.”
The first female UNICAL VC said she is going back to the classroom to lecture as that is what she loves doing.
“I am going to the classroom. I am a professor, I would be in the classroom. God will take me wherever he wants to take me. For me, I am a teacher, I am a professor, so my place is in the classroom,” Obi said elatedly.
She said she wants to be remembered for her fight against sexual harassment, delayed results and highhandedness. “I want to be remembered as the one who fought for her students. I fought for my girls, I fought against those who would harass my girls sexually.
“I fought for my children to have their results. Today, the children can have their results. I fought and made sure that no child, no student of mine is frustrated in the university. That, perhaps, is one of the greatest things I am happy about,” Obi stated.
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Prof. Obi said she is leaving the University fulfilled. “I am so elated, I am so excited, I am so happy, I am so fulfilled. I am grateful to Almighty God who has taken me through these 5 years, and I am finishing strong,” she said.
Earlier, while addressing the staff and students of the University outside her office, Obi thanked the entire management and students for letting her serve them.
She added, “In fact, we’ve taken the University to somewhere else and I am sure the Vice-Chancellor who is coming will run with the University of Calabar.”
Converseer reports that under Obi, UNICAL built the largest solar power plant in the Cross River State, providing stable electricity to the institution and its teaching hospital (University of Calabar Teaching Hospital).
Other notable achievements include the transformation of the Faculty of Education to the College of Education, the accreditation of the Department of Mass Communication and its elevation to the Faculty of Mass Communication, the change of the School of Postgraduate Studies to the College of Postgraduate Studies, among others.
Recall that Prof. Obi was sworn in on 1 December 2020 as the 11th VC of UNICAL.
