She commenced her professional career in the private sector, where she worked in various capacities involving administration and Marketing. In April 2002, she joined the services of the National Universities Commission (NUC) as a Senior Personnel Officer in the then Department of Finance and Administration.

Between 2002 and 2004, while she served in the Personnel Unit, she assisted in identifying skill gaps through training needs assessments, recommending relevant in-house training programmes for staff, coordinating short- and long-term training and assisted in the organization of staff seminars and workshops.

From 2004 to 2007, she was redeployed to the Department of Physical Planning and Development as Personnel Officer now known as Desk officer where she oversaw the general administration of the Department, worked closely with the Director and provided advisory support on administrative matters.

In recognition of her diligence and commitment, she was redeployed in 2007 as a pioneer staff of the then newly created Department of Student Support Services now known as the Directorate of Students where she grew to become a Chief and subsequently redeployed to the Directorate of Inspection and Monitoring in 2014 as Chief Inspection and Monitoring Officer in the Private Universities Division. She was later promoted to Deputy Director in 2016, retaining responsibility for the same Division.

In 2017, she was moved to head the Affiliate Division of the Directorate after which she was redeployed as Head of Welfare Division in the Directorate of Students, a position she held until the retirement of the substantive Director in October 2022. She was thereafter directed to oversee the Directorate and subsequently appointed Acting Director, Directorate of Students.

Under her leadership as Acting Director, the Directorate in 2025 successfully reviewed the Benchmark Statements on Student Support Facilities and Services, a key guideline for monitoring the non- academic aspects of Students’ welfare in Nigerian Universities
On 31st December 2025, she was promoted to the position of substantive Director and redeployed as Head of the Directorate of Public Affairs.

Her professional experience spans the full spectrum of the Commission’s administrative functions. She has served on several Ad-Hoc Assignments, including Chairman of the Review Committee on Staff Conditions of Service for the Directorate of Students; NUC Representative on the Board of the Higher Institutions Sports League (HISL) in collaboration with Nigerian University Games (NUGA); Member of the Monitoring Team for Presidential Scholarship for Innovation and Development (PRESSID) Scholars at Imperial College and University College, London; and Secretary of the NUC Management Committee on the Student Advisory Group Framework. She was also a member of the NUC team that conducted a site verification visit to the parent campus of Lincoln University College in Malaysia in 2024. The visit formed part of the requirements for granting approval for the establishment of the University’s branch campus in Kumo, Gombe State, Nigeria, under the Branch Campus Model of the NUC Transnational Education Guidelines. She has equally attended and participated in several trainings, seminars and workshops at both local and international levels including: Soft Skills Communication (Sheraton Hotels Abuja), Delegation, Coaching and Decision making (Rock View Hotel Abuja), Leadership Development( Royal Institute of Public Administration(RIPA) London,UK), Higher Education Management (Galilee Institute for Management, Israel), among others.
Ms. Okonjo hails from Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State.

She is a registered member of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered).

1. Advising management on public relations and information needs of the Commission at all times;
2. Liaising with the mass media and Public Relations practitioners to publicise the Commission’s activities in a positive light, as the need arises;
3. Initiating the dissemination of Press Statements/Press Releases and the right news at the right time and in the right media alongside other public announcements on NUC and the Nigerian University System (NUS);
4. Processing, editing and supervising the printing and publishing of all authorised publications concerning NUC, including the Monday Bulletin;
5. Officiating at all NUC organised events within and outside the Commission;
6. Producing an in-house journal and newsletters such as the Weekly Monday Bulletin, among others;
7. Handling Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the Commission as the need arises;
8. Managing crisis, including rumours, effectively in order to prevent them from gaining currency and causing damage, when and where necessary; and
9. Being the change agent of the Commission from time to time, by monitoring trends and best practices and instituting same to improve on the NUS.

The Division is headed by Dr. Kevin Longter Parlong (Deputy Director)

Units:

1. Media Relations
2. Publications

Units:

1. Social Media & Website
2. Documentation
3. Public Liaison

Units:

1. Passages
2. Consular Services
3. Events Management