TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded Charles Egbu, a Nigerian professor, who was recently appointed vice-chancellor of Leeds Trinity University, an institution in the United Kingdom.

Leeds had earlier announced that Egbu, who hails from Anambra, would take over from Margaret House, the outgoing VC, who has held the office for seven years.

Buhari, in a statement by Femi Adesina, his spokesperson, on Friday, charged Egbu, to bear the flag of Nigeria aloft in his elevated position as he continues building on the foundations erected by his predecessors.

“With wide experience as Pro-Chancellor at the University of East London…, I have no doubt that you will acquit yourself creditably once again in this new assignment,” he said.

Among other capacities in which Egbu has functioned is the dean of the School of Built Environment and Architecture at London South Bank University.

Acclaimed to be the first black person appointed helmsman of a ranked university in the UK, the professor also doubles as a quantity surveyor with 12 books and over 350 publications to his credit.

Egbu is expected to assume office on November 1, 2020, a move that would see him return to Leeds where he studied and taught for years, further augmenting his achievements as an academic.

“I am honoured to be joining Leeds Trinity; a university whose values and ethos around widening participation align with my own,” the academic had said while expressing his delight at the appointment.