Ahmadu Bello University : ABU

Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) was founded on 4 October 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria, following the Northern Region's effort to build a university that could serve the educational and development needs of northern Nigeria. The law establishing the university was passed by the Northern Region legislature in 1961. At its creation, ABU absorbed or incorporated important predecessor institutions, including the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology at Samaru, Ahmadu Bello College in Kano, the Agricultural Research Institute at Samaru, the Institute of Administration at Zaria and the Veterinary Research Institute at Vom. The new university was named after Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and first Premier of Northern Nigeria. When it opened, the university had four faculties, fifteen departments and 426 students and it faced the challenge of expanding higher education in a region with a serious shortage of qualified entrants and academic staff. ABU's official academic history records its later transition to federal ownership in 1975. It now operates major campuses at Samaru and Kongo in Zaria and the School of Basic Studies in Funtua, with teaching, research and professional programmes across many disciplines.