One of the fundamental bedrocks of any nation’s development is its education system. Nigeria is a developing country that has only gotten to its current level, thanks to its educational institutions. Below are some of the top 5 federal universities in the country.
University of Ibadan (UI)
The University of Ibadan (UniIbadan or UI), formerly known as the University College of Ibadan, was established in the year 1948 in Ibadan, OyoState, Nigeria. In the later part of 1963, the university had its first Chancellor which happened to be Rt. Hon. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister. The first Vice Chancellor of the university was Kenneth Dike and the school’s library is named after him.
The University of Ibadan (UI) is the oldest higher institution in Nigeria and it is located 8 kilometres away from the central part of the city of Ibadan in the western region of Nigeria. Located within the institution are residential and sports facilities for both staff and students. There are also botanical and zoological gardens.
The university has several centres including academic centres, administrative centres, and centres of excellence and there are currently 14 faculties including a proposed faculty of Environmental design and management.
University of Nigeria (UNN)
The University of Nigeria Nsukka which is popularly known as UNN was established in the year 1955 by Nnamdi Azikiwe. The institution is currently located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. It was opened officially on the 7th of October, 1960. The university has four campuses, three of which are located in Enugu State (Nsukka, Enugu, and Ituku-Ozalla) while the other one is in Aba, Anambra State.
In the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), there are 15 faculties, 102 departments, and the institution offers up 82 undergraduate programmes and 211 postgraduate programmes.
Libraries in UNN comprise of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Library (the Enugu Campus Main Library) and the Medical Library located at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla.
University of Lagos (UNILAG)
In order to satisfy the dire need to bring about speedy industrialization and development of Nigeria, more platforms to train people for the actualization of this goal had to be created and that is what birthed the establishment of the University of Lagos (UNILAG). UNILAG was therefore founded on the 22nd of October, 1962.
The University of Lagos is located in Akoka, Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria. The institution has 13 faculties and over 130 faculties. Within the institution are centre for sports, residential areas for both staff and students, lecture halls and many administrative structures.
The University of Lagos Library is the name of the school’s main library. UNILAG offers a lot of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for interested persons each year.
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU)
The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a higher institution that was established on the 4th of October, 1962 in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The institution was named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello who was the first premier of Northern Nigeria.
The university has two campuses; the main campus in Samaru and the other in Kongo, both in Zaria. The institution also owns a pre-degree school in Funtua which is a few kilometres away from the main (Samaru) campus.
The higher institution offers a vast amount of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. It also provides associate degrees and as well as remedial programmes and even programmes for various vocations.
There are a total of 12 faculties, one postgraduate school and 82 departments. The institution also has 5 institutes, 6 specialized centres, a Division of Agricultural Colleges, demonstration primary and secondary schools, and it offers extension and consultancy services.
Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU)
The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a higher institution that is located in the old city of Ile-Ife, in Osun State, Nigeria. The university was formerly known as the University of Ife and was established in the year 1961 by the provincial government of Western Nigeria. It was on the 12th of May, 1987 that it was renamed Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) so as to honour Chief Obafemi Awolowo who was the first premier of the Western province of Nigeria.
The Obafemi Awolowo University or as it is most commonly called, OAU, has a total of 13 faculties and two colleges including the Postgraduate College and the College of Health Sciences. Also, there are over 60 academic departments in the institution. The school’s main library is called Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library. Each year, the school offers admissions into its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
