About Engr. Prof. Ongoebi Maureen Orubide Etebu

RÉSUMÉ

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Engr. Prof. (Mrs.) Ongoebi Maureen Orubide Etebu. FNSE, FNIM, FNIMechE, FICAD, FCIOTA, PFECRMI, FICAN, FIMC, FCIHRSM, FIMS. 

Engr. Prof. (Mrs.) Ongoebi Maureen Orubide Etebu hails from Kaiama in Kolokuma / Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State is an academic who holds three (3) Ph.D. degrees, all in Engineering namely; Ph.D Industrial Engineering from the Federal of Technology Owerri, Ph.D Mechanical Engineering (Thermofluids option) from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt and Ph.D in Energy and Power from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. She has Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering (USA), Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering (Nigeria), Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Nigeria) and Master’s Degree in Management (MBA) culminating into four (4 nos) Masters Academic Degrees and a Post Graduate diploma with distinction in Mechanical Engineering. 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 B.SE. in Chemical Engineering. 

She belongs to several Professional Organizations amongst which is the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and others out of which ten of them offered her fellowships and these are: Fellow Nigerian society of Engineers (FNSE), Fellow Nigerian Institute of Management (FNIM),  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).

In August 1987, she worked at the National Directorate of Employment Port Harcourt as Senior Inspector of Programmes. Shortly thereafter, she bagged a teaching appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt. In December 1999, she was invited to take charge of the Directorate of Special Projects in the Government of His Excellency Chief D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha of blessed memory.  By dint of hard work, dedication and result orientedness, the authorities recommended her quick elevation, and so 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. 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 appointed Commissioner in the Ministry of Public Utilities and Rural Development where she served until January 2006. In March of the same year, she returned to her professional base and held forte as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Port Harcourt.

In 2012 she was promoted to the position of  Professor of Mechanical Engineering. It is on record that she is the FIRST FEMALE PROFESSOR OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING IN THE ANNALS OF NIGERIAN HISTORY and had been inducted into the NIGERIAN WOMEN HALL OF FAME at the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development (MBNCWD) in July, 2023.

She was a front player in Mechanical Engineering as Head of Department, Director Science and Engineering Workshop, 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 had been external examiner until her appointment as the pioneer Vice Chancellor, Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State,

As the Pioneer Vice Chancellor of the premier Nigeria Maritime University, she single handedly midwifed and nurtured the overall growth of the institution towards achieving academic performance in line with the International Maritime Organization Certifications. In June, 2024 Prof. Etebu was appointed as Chairman, Governing Council, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State and has been serving in that capacity till date.

Engr. (Mrs.) Etebu was conferred with Chieftaincy titles by her twin-clan-Local Government Area, the Kolokuma/Opokuma (KOLGA) and the Ogboin Clan in Southern Ijaw LGA (SILGA) all in Bayelsa State, through the instrumentality of the First Class Traditional  Rulers as High Chief Akiroro I of KOLGA and High Chief EBE FINI-ERE of Ogboin clan respectively.  

Engr. Prof. O.M.O. Etebu has so far received accolades in form of awards from one hundred and eleven National and International Institutions. She is married to  Prof E.N Etebu, a professor of Histo Pathology, Pioneer Vice Chancellor Bayelsa Medical University and blessed with four children and grandchildren.