‘He was a VC with exemplary performance’, Ex-NUC boss, Okebukola, mourns Nimi Briggs
Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, a former executive secretary of the National Universities Commission, expressed his shock on Tuesday over the “sudden demise” of emeritus Professor Nimi Briggs, who passed away on April 10, 2023.
Okebukola praised the late Briggs for having exceptional leadership abilities in both the academic and administrative spheres and said that despite his failing health, Briggs continued to attend the committee meetings, the most recent of which was held on March 22.
Okebukola, who is also the Chairman, Governing Board of the National Open University of Nigeria, explained that he was to leave for Port Harcourt on “Tuesday morning to pay a get-well visit knowing he had been slightly indisposed for a few weeks when the sad news of his passing was broken to him by the wife, Mrs Briggs, early Monday.”
The former NUC chief said in a statement that he personally signed and made accessible to journalists on Tuesday in Abuja that he was still processing Briggs’ passing.
Okebukola said, “A message from Mrs Briggs at 4:30 a.m. on April 10 that he had passed on at 3:30 a.m. was beyond what I could come to terms with. For 22 years, I had close-quarter interaction with the late Emeritus Professor Briggs. When I was Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission in 2001, he was one of the vice-chancellors with such exemplary performance that earned him first position in the 2004 ranking of vice-chancellors in the Nigerian university system.
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“This was during his service as vice-chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (2000 to 2005). The 2003 edition was won by late Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe who was vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos.
“Briggs, Ibidapo-Obe and I cemented friendship which flourished until death took my two buddies away. I am thankful for these great friends and for the legacies they left behind. I am in mourning of Nimi Briggs (February 22, 1944 to April 10, 2023).
“He was one of the best vice-chancellors the Nigerian university system has ever had- endowed with superb academic and administrative leadership qualities; prudent in the management of resources; committed to quality and impactful research; and he was a globally renowned medical scientist in the obstetrics and gynaecology specialisation.
“We worked together on several national and international assignments, and you never find him to be slack in delivering on tasks,” Okebukola said.
According to a statement released by his family, Prof. Briggs, 79, died in the early hours of Easter Monday in 2023.
The late Briggs held several positions prior to his passing, including chairman of the committee of pro chancellors of Nigerian universities, fifth vice chancellor of the University of Port-Harcourt, and pro chancellor of the Federal University in Abakaliki and the Bayelsa Medical University in Yenagoa.
