About Engr. Prof. Ongoebi Maureen Orubide Etebu

 

About Engr. Prof. Ongoebi Maureen Orubide Etebu. FNSE, FNIMechE, FCIOTA, PFECRMI, FICAN, FIMC, FCIHRSM, FIMS. 

Professor (Mrs.) Ongoebi Maureen Orubide Etebu is an academic of indescribable and superlative proportion. Perhaps too, it saves much time to simply say Prof. Etebu is an engineer, a moulder, a teacher and by all means a living legend in the ivory tower, an oracle of mechanical, industrial and chemical engineering.   

Beyond that, she is on record as the first female Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the annals of Nigerian history. Until her appointment as the pioneer Vice Chancellor, Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, she was a front player in Mechanical Engineering, Head of Department, Associate Dean, Director, Institute of Technology, Engineering and Management, a Professorial Chair occupant of El-Rufai Professorial Chair in Engineering Management and Dean Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Being an astute academic, Professor Etebu has successfully produced many Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. degree graduates and has been external examiner. 

Maureen Etebu earned a distinction in her First School Leaving Certificate Examinations in 1968. This was followed by a Grade II in the West African School Certificate, WAEC, in 1975. Thereafter, she gained admission into Oklahoma State University, Stillwater and later, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, both in the United States of America; where she bagged a B.SE. in Chemical Engineering. Her brilliance and commitment to knowledge made her soar like an eagle, and in three years she bagged her M.SE Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Restless in her intellectual outlook, she engaged in furthering and broadening her engineering scope by taking interests in other aspects of engineering. Thus, she earned a post graduate diploma in Mechanical Engineering with distinction and also bagged a master’s degree in chemical engineering. She got involved in investigating power plants and thereafter, obtained another master’s degree in mechanical engineering specializing in thermo fluids and an MBA in management, thereby earning four (4) master’s degrees.    She was later to bag a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Nigeria, making her the first Ph.D. holder in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at FUTO.

If you are thinking that Prof. Etebu was done climbing the ladder of engineering knowledge, wait until you hear her further exploits. She fetched a second Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, majoring in Thermo fluids from the Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt; and yet again, a third PhD in Energy and Power Engineering from Canfield University U.K bringing her earned Ph.D.’s to three (3) in number. 

She belongs to several Professional Organizations amongst which is the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and others out of which nine of them offered her fellowships and these are: Fellow, Nigerian society of Engineers (FNSE), Fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration (FICAD), professional fellow, Emergency crisis, Disaster, Safety, Environment and Risk management Institute (PFECRMI), Fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria (FICAN), Fellow, the Chartered institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (FCIOTA), Fellow, Institute of management consultants (FIMC), Fellow, Nigeria Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FNIMechE), Fellow, chartered institute of Human Resources and Strategic management of Nigeria (FCHRISM) and Fellow, institute of Management Specialists UK (FIMS).

Expectedly, Prof. Etebu has wide ranging cognate experience. She had a year’s stint at the Medical Research Laboratory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in 1983, after which she returned home to Nigeria. She was employed as Supervisory Councillor, Yenagoa Local Government Council in 1986 and later appointed into the Governing Council of Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST). 

In August 1987, she transferred her services to the National Directorate of Employment, Port Harcourt, as Senior Inspector of Programmes. Shortly thereafter, in 1993 to be precise, she bagged a teaching appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt. In 1999, she was invited to take charge of Directorate of Special Projects in the Government of Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of blessed memory.  By dint of hard work, dedication and results, the authorities recommended her quick promotion, and in June 2001, she was appointed Commissioner in the newly created Ministry of Special Projects, where she presided over landmark achievements in Projects Implementation and Completion by that Administration. One of the infrastructural Projects worthy of mention is the construction, by direct labour (under her leadership as the head of the project team) of the Niger Delta University Campus at Amassoma in Wilberforce Island.  Two years later, in May 2003, she was made Commissioner in the Ministry of Public Utilities where she served until January 2006. In March of the same year, she returned to her professional base, taught hardcore Engineering Courses, supervised many undergraduate and post graduate students' projects and held forte as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt.

In October 2008, when she was appointed Director, Science and Engineering Workshop, University of Port Harcourt, a position she held until October 2010 when she was promoted Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Since becoming Pioneer Vice Chancellor of the premier Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, she single handedly midwifed and nurtured the overall growth of the institution and students towards achieving academic performance in line with the International Maritime Organization Certifications.  

Engr. Prof. O.M.O. Etebu holds one hundred and one National and International Awards, too numerous to mention. She is married to  Prof E.N Etebu, a professor of Histo Pathology, Pioneer Vice Chancellor Bayelsa Medical University and blessed with four children. For her focus, depth, and contributions to nation building, she is today recognized as the Most Outstanding University Administrator 2019.