University of Uyo Inaugurates New Vice Chancellor

The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Sports, Elder Paul Bassey, has described the newly appointed substantive Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Professor Christopher Nyong Ekong, as a round peg in a round hole, saying the academic institution could not have found a better man for the job at this time in its history. Elder Bassey made this declaration in the warmth of a novelty football match organized by the state’s sports community as a gesture of solidarity, love and celebration for the new vice chancellor, an occasion that drew dignitaries from the sports, media and academic worlds together under one roof.

The novelty match, which held in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 20, at the Uyo Township Stadium in Akwa Ibom State, featured two sides that carry deep significance within the state’s football history. On one side was the Council of President Akwa Ibom All Stars International, and on the other, Akwa United Former Players, a lineup of men who have given years of their lives to the beautiful game in the state. The occasion was organized not as a competitive fixture in the conventional sense but as a tribute, a gathering of people bound by their love for sports and their pride in one of their own ascending to the highest academic office in the state’s premier university.

The match drew considerable attention from across the state’s public life. Seated prominently in the stands and around the pitch were faces familiar to sports administration, journalism, and academia, all of whom came out to identify with Professor Ekong and to celebrate a moment that many described as long overdue. The mood was festive, the atmosphere charged with the kind of energy that only a community celebrating one of its own can generate. Music played, handshakes were exchanged, and the language of the day was one of pride and appreciation.

Elder Paul Bassey, who was a prominent figure flanking the Vice Chancellor throughout much of the event, spoke to journalists shortly after the match kicked off. The Commissioner, himself a man with deep roots in sports administration in Akwa Ibom State, said the decision by the sports community to hold this match in Professor Ekong’s honour was entirely fitting and appropriate. He noted that the Vice Chancellor is not a stranger to the world of sports, nor is he a mere spectator or casual enthusiast. Rather, Professor Ekong is, in the Commissioner’s words, a man who has walked alongside the sports community for years and contributed to its growth in ways that are remembered and appreciated.

“Let me on behalf of the sports community congratulate the tear rubber VC of the University of Uyo,” Elder Bassey said, using the popular Nigerian expression to underscore how fresh and deserving the appointment is. “This is his family, this is his background. The sports community in Akwa Ibom State are lucky and privileged to have him as Vice Chancellor in the University of Uyo. This is a good record and he has paid his dues to deserve it.” Those words, spoken in the open air of the Uyo Township Stadium, drew applause from those gathered nearby and set the tone for what the rest of the day would become.

The commissioner did not stop at congratulations. He also took the opportunity to express gratitude to the Vice Chancellor for what he described as a deep and consistent dedication to sports in the state. “Sir, we want to use this opportunity to thank you for your dedication to sports. We can see your love for sports. Well done, Sir,” Elder Bassey said, directing his words personally to Professor Ekong who was present at the stadium. It was a moment that many in attendance described as touching, a senior government official and a senior academic, both united by their shared passion for sports and their commitment to the development of Akwa Ibom State.

Speaking more broadly to the press at the conclusion of the match, the Sports Commissioner explained the deeper purpose behind the event. He said that beyond the fun and celebration, the novelty match was a way for the sports community to formally identify with one of their own at a pivotal moment in his career. He emphasized that it was important for the community not to allow such a milestone to pass without marking it in a way that reflects the bond between them and Professor Ekong.

“We needed to do this to thank God on his behalf, to celebrate and tell him we love him, and to make him not forget his culture medium which is sports,” Elder Bassey told journalists. The phrase “culture medium” was deliberate and meaningful. Elder Bassey was saying that sports is the environment in which Professor Ekong grew, the soil in which his public identity took root, and that no matter how high he rises in the academic world, the sports community wants him to remember where he comes from and what he has always stood for.

The significance of that message cannot be overstated. Professor Ekong’s appointment as Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo marks a major moment not only for the university but for Akwa Ibom State as a whole. The University of Uyo, established in 1983, is one of the major federal universities in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, and the position of Vice Chancellor is one that carries enormous responsibility. It demands a combination of academic excellence, administrative experience, political acuity, and personal integrity. Those who know Professor Ekong’s career trajectory say he brings all of these qualities and more to the role.

What makes his story particularly compelling, and what made this football match so emotionally resonant for those in attendance, is the fact that Professor Ekong is not simply a man who rose through the ranks of academia. He is also a former Commissioner for Sports in Akwa Ibom State, a role in which he served and left a mark that is still spoken about in sporting circles in the state. He is a man who has sat in the very chair that Elder Paul Bassey now occupies, and who understands from personal experience what it means to steer the sporting culture of a state that is as passionate about football as any in the country.

Beyond his tenure as Sports Commissioner, Professor Ekong served as Chairman of Akwa United Football Club from 2003 to 2008, a period that many football historians in the state regard as formative for the club. Akwa United, one of the Nigerian Professional Football League clubs, is a source of immense pride for the people of Akwa Ibom, and leading the club through any period is a responsibility that demands vision and dedication. Professor Ekong’s tenure is remembered as one that combined administrative rigour with genuine love for the game, qualities that endeared him to players, officials and supporters alike.

He is also currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the All Stars Football Club in Akwa Ibom State, a role that keeps him actively connected to grassroots football development in the state even as his career in academia has grown and flourished. This dual identity, as both a distinguished professor and a committed figure in football administration, is what makes him such a unique and celebrated figure. It is also what made the novelty match on Saturday morning such a natural and heartfelt way for the sports community to celebrate his elevation.

When Professor Ekong himself addressed those gathered at the end of the match, his words carried the quiet confidence of a man who is deeply at home with the people around him. He thanked the teams, the organizers, and the entire football community in Akwa Ibom State for the love and warmth they had shown him. He described the occasion as one that moved him personally and said he was gratified to see so many members of the sports community turn out in his honour.

In keeping with the spirit of the day, Professor Ekong described the match itself as a no victor, no vanquished outing, a way of framing the occasion not as a competition but as a celebration. He offered this characterization even as he acknowledged that Akwa United Former Players had emerged with a 3-1 lead over the Council of President Akwa Ibom All Stars International, a scoreline that technically handed them the trophy on the day. But for the Vice Chancellor, the result was secondary. What mattered was the unity, the fellowship, and the message of solidarity that the match was organized to convey.

Professor Ekong also offered warm words for the Sports Commissioner, Elder Paul Bassey, whom he praised for his encouraging spirit and his work in the sports sector. This was not mere courtesy. The two men share a genuine bond rooted in their common investment in Akwa Ibom sports, and Professor Ekong’s commendation of the Commissioner was a recognition of a colleague and a friend. Going further, the new Vice Chancellor promised to work alongside the Ministry of Sports to give football a leap in the state, signalling that even from his new perch at the University of Uyo, he intends to remain an active partner in the development of football and sports more broadly.

This promise carries real weight. The University of Uyo has the infrastructure, the human capital, and the institutional reach to make a meaningful contribution to sports development in Akwa Ibom and in Nigeria more broadly. A Vice Chancellor who is personally passionate about football and who has a working relationship with the state’s sports ministry is well positioned to pursue collaborations that could benefit student athletes, football academies, sports science programmes, and community outreach initiatives. Those who follow sports development closely in the state say they are watching this promise carefully and that they are hopeful about what it might produce.

One of the most memorable moments of the novelty match came through a gesture that drew applause and admiration from all corners of the stadium. A United States-based alumnus of the University of Uyo, Akprawa Etukad Ubon, made a donation of footballs, jerseys and related sports kits as part of the high points of the occasion. Ubon, speaking through representatives at the event, said his gesture was made to support the Vice Chancellor in his expressed goal to grow soccer in the University of Uyo. It was a statement of faith in Professor Ekong’s vision and a tangible contribution from the diaspora community to the university’s sporting aspirations.

The decoration of players, officials and dignitaries was another high point of the match. In a ceremony that underscored the celebratory nature of the day, various individuals who have contributed to sports and to public life in Akwa Ibom State were recognized and honoured. It was the kind of ceremony that reminds communities of the value of their history and the importance of acknowledging those who have served well. For many of the former players who laced up their boots one more time for the occasion, it was both a moment of nostalgia and of pride.

The choice of the Uyo Township Stadium as the venue was itself significant. The stadium is one of the more storied grounds in Akwa Ibom State, a venue that has hosted countless matches and events over the years and that holds a special place in the memory of anyone who has followed football in the state with any seriousness. Holding this particular occasion there, at a ground that Professor Ekong himself would have known well during his years as Sports Commissioner and as Akwa United chairman, added another layer of meaning to the day.

The appointment of Professor Christopher Nyong Ekong as Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo has been received with widespread enthusiasm across different sectors of the state. In academic circles, his appointment has been welcomed as a recognition of intellectual merit and administrative experience. In political circles, his elevation has been noted as a moment of pride for Akwa Ibom State. And in the sports community, as Saturday’s match made abundantly clear, his appointment has been received as something deeply personal, the rise of a man who is, in every meaningful sense, one of their own.

Nigeria’s university system has gone through a period of considerable challenge in recent years, with issues of funding, infrastructure, student welfare and academic standards requiring sustained attention from institutional leaders. The role of a vice chancellor in this environment is demanding and consequential. What Professor Ekong brings to the position, beyond his academic credentials and his administrative experience, is a personal history that connects him to the people of Akwa Ibom State in ways that go beyond the formal. He is a man who has been Sports Commissioner, football club chairman, board of trustees chairman, and now vice chancellor. He has walked through different rooms of public life and emerged with his credibility intact and his relationships strong.

That is what Elder Paul Bassey was pointing to when he described Professor Ekong as a round peg in a round hole. It was not simply a statement about qualifications, though the qualifications are not in doubt. It was a statement about fit, about the alignment between a man’s character and history on one hand and the responsibilities he is now asked to carry on the other. The sports community of Akwa Ibom State, by organizing Saturday’s novelty match, gave public expression to that belief in a way that was joyful, warm and deeply communal.

As the players came off the pitch and the crowds began to disperse from the Uyo Township Stadium on that Saturday morning, the mood among those who had gathered was one of satisfaction and optimism. A new chapter had begun for the University of Uyo with Professor Ekong at its helm, and the sports community had made sure that the beginning of that chapter was marked in a manner befitting the man and the moment. The promise of collaboration between the university and the state’s sports ministry, the donation of kits from a proud alumnus in the diaspora, the words of affirmation from the Sports Commissioner, and the presence of former football stars on the pitch all pointed in the same direction: toward a future in which sport, academia and community continue to build one another up in Akwa Ibom State.

For Professor Christopher Nyong Ekong, the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Saturday was a reminder that no matter what new heights a person reaches, the community that shaped them never forgets. And from all that was seen and heard at the Uyo Township Stadium on June 20, it is clear that Professor Ekong has not forgotten either.