Dr Ubadire Agua has been appointed as new Head of the Public Relations Unit of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike(MOUAU).
His elevation to become the substantive spokesman of the institution was made by the Vice-chancellor, Prof. Maduebibisi Ofo, Iwe, in a letter of appointment dated September 20, 2024, signed by the Registrar of the University, Dr. Nkeiruka Charity Mbanaso.
With this appointment Agua, who is now the substantive head of MOUAU PR Unit, takes over from Mr. Patrick Oparah, who has been on an acting capacity since March 1, 2023.
In the appointment letter, Agua was described by the VC as an astute public relations practitioner and charged him to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the new role assigned to him in the University.
Dr. Agua joined MOUAU PR Unit in December 2005 as a Higher Executive Officer (Public Relations) and rose through the ranks to become an Assistant Chief Public Relations Officer in 2021.
Prior to his appointment to head of the Public Relations Unit, Agua had since 2020 been serving in the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).
A trained expert in communication, Dr. Agua attended the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State and the prestigious Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State where he obtained a National and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication, respectively.
He later went to the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication and a Master of Art (MA) degree in Business and Organizational Communication.
Agua capped his academic pursuits at the University of Port-Harcourt where he bagged a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D) in Communication Studies, specialising in Corporate Communication.
The new PR helmsman in MOUAU belongs to several is a member of many professional and cademic associations within and outside Nigeria. He was inducted into the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in 2006, African Council for Communication Education (ACCE – Nigeria) in 2009.
In 2013, Dr Agua became a member of the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, and has been a member of the International Communication Association (ICA) since 2023.
With significant interest in reputation management of public sector organisations, Dr. Agua has published a number of papers in that area of interest.
He has been a panellist and speaker at several communication conferences, workshops and training within and outside Nigeria.
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