Prof. Val Ekechukwu, former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has revealed that the recent appointment of Prof. David Mba, a Nigerian-born academic as the new Vice Chancellor of Birmingham City University (BCU), United Kingdom will be beneficial to the university.

Prof. Mba who has held a position as a visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the UNN, and has examined some PhD students in the University is now the second Black appointed Vice Chancellor in the history of UK higher education. He is leading the university with a history spanning 180 years since its inception in 1843 with over 31,000 students.

Speaking to Daily Sun in Nsukka on Saturday, Prof. Ekechukwu described Mba’s appointment as a good omen to UNN, Nigeria in general. He expressed optimism that he would deliver in his new appointment.

“Prof Mba’s appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham City University, United Kingdom is a welcome development and a good omen to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the country in general. It shows that Nigerians have come of age in the world education sector.

“He has examined some PhD students from the Department since 2015 and was appointed visiting professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department, UNN during the period I was Dean Faculty of Engineering, and we have subsequently collaborated on some academic projects.

“Prof. Mba was invited and he participated very actively in the development of the BEng & MEng degree curricula for Nigerian universities in Aerospace, Mechatronic, Automotive, and Power Engineering programs while I was serving as the Director of Research and Innovation at the National Universities Commission, Abuja,” he said.

Speaking further, Prof. Ekechukwu said that UNN would explore areas of collaboration with the UK university for the benefit of the two institution

“We hope that, going forward, we can enlarge the scope and variety of our collaboration for the mutual benefit of UNN and Birmingham City University, and I am optimistic that Mba will welcome such collaboration,” he said.

Also speaking, Prof. Howard Njoku, a lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNN said that Prof Mba was his external examiner while he was undergoing his PhD programme, adding that he is an excellent academic.

“Prof Mba is an excellent academic who has made high-quality scholarly contributions to his field. Is globally recognised in the use of machine monitoring and is also a very amiable gentleman.

“He was my external examiner in 2015 as a UNN PhD student, and I enjoyed a cordial relationship with him. He is also a higher achiever, hence, I am not surprised that he was appointed VC of Birmingham City University because he had held top positions in UK universities.

“While he was a visiting professor at the Department of mechanical engineering, UNN he made a fruitful contribution in terms of seminar presentation and order academics programmes,” he said.

Njoku said further that UNN will benefit from his appointment through student and staff exchange programmes between the two institutions, as well as using his position to help UNN to attract and access European Union research funds for developing countries.

For Associate Prof. Edmund Okoroigwe, former Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering, UNN Prof Mba is an erudite scholar who is committed to intellectual and service delivery whenever he is called upon to do so.

“During his visit to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, he contributed immensely to the intellectual development of the Department. He collaborated with the Department in research. We published papers together in high-class journals as part of his collaboration in conjunction with his research students at his university.

“Prior to his appointment as a visiting professor to the Department, he was appointed as an external examiner in the Department and remains an external examiner to date.

“In 2020 he was the keynote speaker in the maiden edition of the Conference on Engineering Research, Technology Innovation and Practice (CERTIP) organized by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UNN.

“Prof Mba’s wealth of knowledge is vast and should be explored further by the University of Nigeria especially now that he heads a world-class university. The University of Nigeria and Birmingham City University should formalize research and development collaborations in the areas of staff and student exchange, joint research grant proposals, teaching and supervision of PhDs, joint degree awarding programmes, among others, this can be formalized by signing of a memorandum of understanding to cover these areas,” he said. (Saturday Sun)

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