By Ogochukwu Isioma
A former Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Professor Emeritus Nimi Briggs, is dead.
He was aged 79.
His demise was announced in a statement issued by the family on Monday.
According to the statement, Briggs died in the early hours of Easter Monday.
Late Briggs was a Nigerian academic and Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
He was chairman of the Federal Government Renegotiation Committee on the 2009 Agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He is also a former Chairman, Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) and former Chairman of the Board of the National Hospitals.
Until his demise, Prof. Emeritus Briggs was Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Bayelsa Medical University, in Yenagoa, a position he held until death.
Meanwhile, the UNIPORT management has declared a five-days of mourning from Monday 10th to Friday 15th April for its late former VC who served as the fifth henchman of the varsity.
A statement by the institution said all UNIPORT flags on campus are to fly half-mast, while a condolence register will be opened in the Office of the Vice Chancellor, Senate building and the College of Health Science where the deceased was a professor.
The UNIPORT management urged all staff, students and stakeholders to “pray for the repose of soul of the varsity’s former Vice Chancellor and strength for his family to remain strong.
