Prof. Sunday OKPANACHI
Prof. Sunday Okpanachi, appointed Deputy Vice-Chancelor (Administration) in May 2023, is a Professor of French. He has also been the Director of Academic Planning of Salem University, Lokoja.
He joined the services of Salem University as Senior Lecturer in 2011. That was after he had retired from the Federal Public Service, where he had served for more than two decades at the management level. In earlier years (1978-1987), he had been a lecturer in French at the pre-university School of Basic Studies, Ugbokolo/Makurdi.
Prof. Sunday Okpanachi was born on the 3rd July, 1952 at Inye in Ankpa Local Government Area of Kogi State. He was married to late Mary Okpanachi. They are blessed with children and grandchildren.
He attended Qua Iboe Mission Primary School, Inye (1958 – 1964), Government Secondary School, Dekina (1965-1969), and obtained a B.A (Hons) degree in French and a Graduate Certificate in Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1977). He later obtained a Master of Arts degree (Maîtrise ès lettres) in Literature of French expression (1980) and a Doctorate degree (Doctorat de troisième cycle) in French Caribbean Literature (1984) from the Université de Bordeaux 3, Talence, France.
From 1978 to 1987 he was a lecturer in French language and literature at the School of Basic Studies, Ugbokolo and Makurdi, Nigeria. He benefitted from study leaves for Masters and PhD degrees respectively within the period. He rose to the position of Chief Lecturer before transferring his services in 1987 to the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), a Federal Government parastatal.
As one of the Directors at the NDE, he served in various capacities in the design and implementation of employment creation programmes and projects. In the exercise of his duties, he represented Nigeria on many occasions at international fora, especially at the International Labour Conferences in Geneva. He retired from Federal service on the 31st December, 2009.
He also held some important positions of responsibility in the cause of the years. In 1986, he served as the Benue State Monitoring Officer of the Federal Government Political Bureau which organised and collated debates towards the formation of a viable political arrangement for Nigeria’s return to democratic rule.
From 1993 to 2000 he was a member of Board of Directors of Trade Bank Plc.
He was a member of the Nigerian Delegation to the 82nd (1995), 83rd (1996), 84th (1997), 85th (1998) and (2008) International Labour Conferences in Geneva, Switzerland and served in such committees as Application of labour standards, Employment generation, Multilateral enterprises and social dimensions of the conferences. He was also a member of the Nigerian delegation to the 267th (1996), 268th (1997), 270th (1997), and 271st (1998) meetings of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva.
Between 2000 and 2001 he served as a member of the Federal Government Committee on the restructuring of poverty alleviation programmes/agencies in Nigeria.
At the home level, from 2004-2007, he was a member of the Planning Committee of the Annual Igala Education Summit.
A creative writer and poet, he is the author of many books in both English and French. He has also published scholarly articles in both French and English languages in national and international journals.
