The University of Lagos has produced its first female
Professor of Mass Communication in the person Prof. Mrs Abigail Odozi Ogwezzy-Ndisika.
The announcement was made on Monday June 5, 2017, by
the Council of the University as Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika was pronounced the
first female professor of Development and Mass Communication in the Department
of Mass Communication with an effective date of August 11, 2016.
Delta State born Prof. Ogwezzy-Ndisika is a member of
the Editorial Board of the Journal of Communication and Media Research
(JCMR).
She joined the services of the University of Lagos as
Lecturer II in 2001 and has served the University in both administrative and
professional capacities, having served as Acting Head, Department of Mass
Communication from 1st August, 2014 to 31st July, 2016.
She has also served as member of several boards and committees.
She holds a B.A. in Linguistics and Communication from
the University of Port-Harcourt; PGD and M.Sc. in Mass Communication from the
University of Lagos; M.A. in Gender and Development from the University of
Sussex, England; and PhD in Communication Arts from the University of Ibadan.
Prof. Ogwezzy-Ndisika also has over 25 years work
experience in journalism, advertising and public relations. She consults for
various Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government of
Nigeria (FGN), multilateral and bilateral agencies, local NGOs and management
consulting firms.
Some of the agencies and organisations she consults
for are UNDP, UNICEF, UNODC, WHO, USAID, DFIDPartnership for Transforming
Health Systems Phase II (PATHS2), and Electronic Development and Environment
Information System (ELDIS) among others.
In the field of development, she has been
involved in research, design of training manuals, training workshops,
conceptualisation and development of technical papers, review of technical
documents, development of IEC materials, monitoring and evaluation of
development activities, documentation, design and implementation of
communication strategy & action plans.
She was a member of
UNICEF national team of master trainers on advocacy, social mobilization and
community dialogue tool (CDT) for the prevention-of-Mother-to-Child-
Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV; ENABLE2, a DFID-funded business advocacy programme to build the capacity of media houses, to develop and
sustain the content of pages; and UNDP national team
of trainers for “Professional Reporting of Electoral Processes For Nigeria’s
2011 and 2015 Elections”.
She has also worked
with UNICEF on other related programmes – water, sanitation and hygiene, avian
influenza (H5N1) and H1N1 amongst others.
She is a recipient of ELF Petroleum Coy Ltd and
British Chevening scholarships; laureate of the Council for the Development of
Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA); laureate of the African
Association of Political Science, (AAPS)/Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
(HFGF); laureate of Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Washington, DC; and
1991 best graduating student in Department of Linguistics and Communication,
University of Port Harcourt.
She is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public
Relations (MNIPR); Associate Registered Practitioner of Advertising (arpa);
member, Network on Behavioural Research for Child Survival in Nigeria
(NETBRECSIN); member, Association of Communication Scholars & Professionals
of Nigeria (ACSPN); African Council for Communication Education (ACCE);
Association of Women in Development (AWID); Association for Promoting Nigerian
Languages and Culture (APNILAC); and International Association for Mass
Communication Research (IAMCR).
She is also a member of the editorial board of a
leading national newspaper; member, editorial boards of numerous journals
of media and communication studies; Chair, panel of judges,10th OAAN
Poster Awards; and member, panel of judges for the 9th OAAN Poster
Awards and Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting Award (WSIRA), 2008,
2012, 2015 and 2016 editions; panellist, African Media Barometer-Nigeria 2011;
reviewer of several technical documents; discussant and panellists at various
fora; and produced several development documentaries.
She has attended local and international conferences
in Brazil, Egypt, UK, USA, Malaysia, Kenya, Cameroun, Ghana, and Senegal; and
published articles and books locally and internationally.
Background
Abigail
Ogwezzy-Ndisika is the third order and the only female out of the six children
of Chief Godwin Chukwuemeke and Late Mrs. Sussana Omogor Ogwezzy.
Although,
both parents hail from Ndokwa West LGA of Delta, her father is from Emu-Obodeti
and her mother was from Abbi. Due to her late mother’s constant in-service
training being one of the foremost female educationists in her area of origin,
Abigail spent most of her early years with her late maternal grand-mother Madam
Kekumgbonue Esegbue at her mother’s town Abbi.
Thus,
she had her primary education at Umia Primary School and secondary at Abbi
Grammar school, both in Abbi. A very humble beginning from a country-side,
Abigail has risen to limelight by dint of hard work, which runs through her
family. Infact, it is their DNA.
Her
eldest brother Dr. Victor Ogwezzy runs a thriving private firm; her immediate
elder brother Barrister Ernest Ogwezzy is currently a commissioner; her
immediate younger brother, Dr. Michael Ogwezzy is law lecturer; the fifth order,
Mr. Kelvin Ogwezzy, a sailor; and the last born, Dr. Darlington Ogwezzy, is a lecturer
in optometry.
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