PROFESSOR ANTHONIA MAURICE ESSIEN

BA (UYO) MA, PhD (IBADAN)

Professor of Sociology of Religion

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic)

University of Uyo.

Anthonia M. Essien, a Professor of Sociology of Religion, is the current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), University of Uyo. She joined the services of the University of Uyo as a Graduate Assistant in 1990, having graduated in 1988 with First Class Honours from the then Department of Religion and Philosophy, in the erstwhile University of Cross River State. Her interest in studying the interplay between religion and society led her to proceed to the University of Ibadan for postgraduate studies where she obtained her Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Sociology of Religion in 1992 & 1997 respectively. She rose in the academic ladder and become a Professor of Sociology of Religion in 2013. She was groomed for academic pursuit from primary school at Holy Child Primary School, Ifuho, Ikot Ekpene in 1975, and at Cornelia Cornelly College, Afaha Oku in 1980.

 As a dedicated teacher and a dependable staff of the University of Uyo, she has been entrusted with many responsibilities in the University of Uyo. She was the Acting Head of Department of Religious and Cultural Studies from 2009 –2015; Acting Director, Centre for Cultural Studies from 2015-2016. She was the Dean, Faculty of Arts 2017-2021. In her academic life in the University of Uyo, she has supervised numerous Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral students. Professor  Essien has published widely in many international and national journals.  

Professor  Essien has positively impacted on the academic life of many universities in Nigeria as External Examiner for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at the following Universities: University of Port Harcourt, Akwa Ibom State University, Niger Delta University, University of Calabar, Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA). She is the Representative of the University of Uyo in the Governing Council of Samuel Bill Theological College, Abak.

She is a member of Professional bodies viz: National Association for the African Religion and Culture, National Association for the Study of Religion (NASR), International Association for the History of Religion (IAHR), International Economic Development Research Center (IEDRC), and American Academy of Religion (AAR) to mention just a few.

Professor Anthonia M. Essien is a seasoned researcher. Her choice to study Sociology of Religion was one of the best things that happened in her life. This has been the gateway to her many international connections in academic endeavours. Upon completion of her Ph.D in 1997, she won the prestigious Fund for Leadership Development (FLD) from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation which provided the avenue for her research on issues of spirituality and healthcare service. The MacArthur Foundation project in which she was the Principal Investigator in the Church Peer Education Network for Reproductive Health in Rural Annangland, was a ground-breaking project that led to focusing her academic interest in ways of mainstreaming spirituality in healthcare services.

 She again won the Ford Foundation Full sponsorship to proceed to London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, for a course on Sexual and Reproductive Health. That study further fine-tuned her skills for research into spirituality in healthcare services. Her interest in spirituality and female health was further developed through the support from The Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) Seattle, Washington, USA. She became the Principal Investigator on the project: Nkukut and Female Reproductive Health in Annangland.  This project paved the way for a deeper understanding of issues of female health as handled in the churches around us.

Her quest for authentic skills in Leadership and Human Rights training inspired her to participate in the 7th African Human Rights Camp – Entebbe, Uganda in the year 2001. In 2002, she proceeded to the Katholieke University, Leuven, Belgium, for the Liberation Theology Forum to interact with erudite scholars around the globe on the Liberative Practices of some religious groups on reproductive health matters. Being focused on female empowerment, in 2003, she made many  academic achievements: she participated in the “Women in Mission” at the Joint International Programme that took place at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute, World Council of Churches, Related to the University of Geneva, Chateau de Bossey, Bogis – Bossey, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. In the same year, she attended Amanitare Programme on Prosperity through Empowerment in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In the year 2004, she also made giant strides in the academic endeavour for self-improvement. She attended an academic programme on Soteriology of the Apocalypse of John at Selly Oak, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Keen on further building up her career, she travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2004 to be part of the epoch-making occasion where the academia assembled to analyze the contributions of Africa to the Religious and Spiritual Heritage of the World. It was in Addis Abba that she met the famous Sage of African Religion, Prof John S. Mbiti (now of blessed memory). That meeting was historic as it gave her the opportunity to hold academic discussions and draw insights for deeper understanding of issues of the interrelationship between African Society and Religion.  Again, in 2004, she proceeded to Cape Town, South Africa for the programme on Development Alternative with Women in the New Era (DAWN) on the Future Challenges for the International Women’s Movement in the present global conjuncture.

In order to gain more knowledge in Humanities, she attended the Virginia Conference   of Humanities at Bridge Water College, Bridgewater, Virginia, USA in 2011. The 2012, 3rd Journal Conference on Social Science and Humanity which she attended in Dubai, United Arab Emirates connected her to many colleagues in her discipline to collaborate in academic endeavours.   In 2018, she attended the Conference on Medicine and Religion, held at St. Louis Missouri, United States of America. It was at this conference she gained deeper knowledge of the power of spirituality to heal and to harm in matters of healthcare services.

Professor Essien hails from Ikot Osurua, Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. She is the second daughter of the five children of Mr. Maurice and Mrs. Catherine Udo Essien, born on the 10th day of May 1960. As a young child, she showed deep religious inclinations which finally propelled her to join the Religious Congregation of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus at the age of 17. She has since remained in this Religious Congregation impacting on lives immensely. She has held many positions of responsibility. From 2000-2003, she was a Provincial Councillor of South Eastern Province, HHCJ. From 2003-2009, she was a two-term Provincial Superior of South Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus. In March 2021, she was elected one of the General Councillors of the Central Administration of her Congregation. She was a Sister Adviser to the Catholic Women Organization in the Catholic Diocese of Uyo and is currently a Sister Adviser to the Catholic Woman Organization, Calabar Ecclesiastical Province (CWONCEP).