The Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Simon Ortuanya, has been commended for steering a rapid turnaround that is restoring the institution’s lost glory, one hundred days after assuming office.
The commendation came from a concerned member of the university community, Dr Damian Eze, who, in a statement, commended the VC’s “purposeful and urgent leadership,” noting that Prof. Ortuanya hit the ground running to reposition UNN as a leading institution within and outside Nigeria.
Eze highlighted the VC’s engagements with TETFund, which have already yielded multiple project approvals and clearances, including: a new faculty block at the College of Medicine, Ituku-Ozalla; 40-room hostels each for Nursing and Pharmacy students; a new laboratory complex; and full supply and installation of laboratory equipment for the College of Medicine.
According to him, “When Professor Simon Ortuanya took the oath of office on 11 August 2025 as the 16th Vice Chancellor of UNN, the institution was at a crossroads. Years of infrastructural decay, weakened governance, and strained community relations had taken their toll. One hundred days later, the trajectory has changed.”
Although the VC marked the day without any ceremony, insisting on “quiet reflection and stock-taking,” his first three months have seen achievements “more commonly associated with a full year in office,” Eze said.
Eze said that within his first week, Prof. Ortuanya launched an infrastructure recovery campaign, during which major campus roads, including the VC’s Office Road, were rehabilitated. “The long-dormant UNN Filling Station was revived with four new pumps. Renovation of existing hostels is ongoing, while groundwork for three new hostel blocks is set to begin.”
He noted that Prof. Ortuanya has equally prioritised academic reform. Within 100 days, the VC established two new centres: The Michael Okpara Centre for Leadership and the Electric Vehicle Development Centre.
He further revealed that one of the VC’s earliest directives was the completion of outstanding staff evaluations and promotions, leading to the elevation of hundreds of workers across junior and senior categories, many of whom had been stagnated for years.
Eze said observers see Prof. Ortuanya’s first 100 days as “a demonstration of what determined leadership can achieve,” adding that the renewed confidence across the university shows that UNN “is on the path toward reclaiming the global relevance it once enjoyed.”
For a University long in search of a renaissance, he added, “This is only the beginning of the beginning.”
