Adeleke University Competitors

The University College, Ibadan, was founded in 1948. At first, it occupied the old site previously used by the 56th Military General Hospital about eight kilometers away from the 'new' or permanent site. The new site covered over 1,032 hectares of land generously leased by the chiefs and people of Ibadan for 999 years. With equipment transferred from Yaba Higher College, the 104 foundation students (including 49 students in teacher training and survey courses) began their courses at Ibadan, on 18 January, 1948; the formal opening took place on 25 March, 1948. In February, 1948, London University allowed Ibadan its special relationship scheme. Arthur Creech Jones, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, and an influential member of the Elliot Commission, turned the first sod at the permanent site of the University College, on 17 November, 1948, which became the Foundation Day.

Founded in 1962, the University of Lagos has, for over 5 decades, provided qualitative and research-oriented education to Nigerians and all those who have entered its domain in search of knowledge. At its inception, the University of Lagos was empowered to produce a professional workforce that would steer the political, social and economic development of a newly independent country. Over the last fifty years the University has pursued this mission with vigour, excellence and panache. The University has built a legacy of academic excellence and is now acclaimed publicly as “the University of First Choice and the Nation’s Pride.”

The establishment of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) began in 1961 following the recommendation of the Ashby Commission on “Post-School Smaller-ABU-logo-120x120Certificate and Higher Education in Nigeria”. A Law establishing a Provisional Council for the University was passed by the Legislature of Northern Nigeria in April while the Council itself was constituted in November, 1961, under the Chairmanship of the Hon. Shettima Kashim, CBE, who later became Sir Kashim Ibrahim KCMG, CBE. Sir Norman Stanley Alexander, a New Zealander and a Professor of Physics at the University College, Ibadan, was appointed the First Principal, later Vice-Chancellor, of the University in July and he assumed office in November, 1961. Ahmadu Bello University began full operation in 1962, on the cites of these educational institutions: the defunct Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, founded in 1955; the Clerical Training Centre, Kongo, founded in 1957; the Samaru Agricultural Research Station, established in  1924, and the Shika Livestock Farm, started in 1928. The University was named after SirAhmadu Bello (1901-1966), “the Sardauna of Sokoto”and the Premier of Northern Nigeria. As the first Chancellor of the’ University, Sir Ahmadu Bello performed its Opening Ceremony on the 4th of October, 1962. In 1975, the University was taken over by the Federal Government through a Decree (the Ahmadu Bello University [Transitional] Provisions Decree of 1975), thus becoming a Federal University.