University of Ibadan, Oyo State
This
is a list of very interesting and unknown details about the premier
university in Nigeria, U.I which is located in the South-western part of
the country.
The University of Ibadan has her origins in Yaba College (now
YabaTech), founded in 1932 in Yaba, Lagos. The Yaba College is the first
tertiary educational institute in Nigeria. Yaba College was transferred
to Ibadan in 1948. That was when it became the University College of
Ibadan. This is the name some of our fathers and grandfathers still call
the University of Ibadan till today.
2. UI was founded on its own site in 1948
The University of Ibadan was founded on its own site on 17 November
1948. In late 1963, on the university playing-fields, the Rt. Hon. Sir
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of independent Nigeria,
became the first Chancellor of its independent university. In that year,
all remaining ties with the University of London were severed.
On November 17, 1948. Arthur Creech Jones, then the British
Secretary of State for the Colonies, led the inauguration ceremony of
the institution. The university was originally created as an extension
of the University of London and was called University College, Ibadan.
3. UI, the only University founded before Nigeria’s Independence
The University of Ibadan, founded in 1948, is the oldest university
in Nigeria and the only institution founded before the country became
independent in 1960. The University of Ibadan is a federally- controlled
public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State. Other big and popular
Universities such asUniversity of Lagos (1962), Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria (1962), University of Benin (1970), University of Port Harcourt
(1975), were only established after independence. Now you know, the only
true University founded in Nigeria before 1960 is the University of
Ibadan.
4. The first Indigenous Vice chancellor of UI was Kenneth Dike
The first Nigerian vice chancellor of the university was Kenneth
Dike, after whom the University of Ibadan’s library is named. He is the
first indigenous VC of the University. Kenneth Onwika Dike (17 December
1917 – 26 October 1983) was a Nigerian historian. He was a native of
Awka, in the eastern Nigeria.
During the Nigerian civil war, he moved to Harvard University,
Boston. He was a founder of the Ibadan School that dominated the writing
of the History of Nigeria until the 1970s. He is credited with “having
played the leading role in creating a generation of African historians
who could interpret their own history without being influenced by
Eurocentric approaches.
5. Designs of halls of residence are not identical
Did you know that the designs of the halls of residence in the
University of Ibadan are not identical? And, just so you know, this is
deliberate. Mellanby, Tedder, Kuti, Sultan Bello and Queen Elizabeth II
halls – were designed by Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew. Messrs Watkins Gray
and Partners designed Alexander Brown Hall as a part of the overall
design of the University College Hospital Complex. Independence and
Nnamdi Azikiwe Halls,were designed by Messrs Design Group (Nigeria) Ltd.
Obafemi Awolowo Hall was designed by Allied Group of Architects, while
Tafawa Balewa and Idia Halls were designed by Messrs Aderele-Omisore-
Adebanjo Associates. The Federal Ministry of Works designed the
Abdusalami Abubakar Hall.
6. These notable Nigerians attended University of Ibadan
a. Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart
b. Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary-General
c. Michael Omolewa, former President of UNESCO General Conference and Ambassador of Nigeria to UNESCO
d. Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State
e. J. P. Clark, Nigerian poet and playwright
f. Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature
g. Grace Alele-Williams, first Nigerian woman to
become the head (vice-chancellor) of a Nigerian university, the
University of Benin
h. William Kumuyi, Founder and General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry
i. Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nigerian writer, television producer and environmental activist
j. Farida Mzamber Waziri, Former Executive Chairperson of the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
7. University of Ibadan has no catchment area
UI is one of the Federal universities with no catchment areas.
Other Universites with no catchment areas are the 3 federal agriculture
universities (Federal University of Agriculture,Abeokuta; Federal
University Agriculture Makurdi; Michael Okpara University of
Agriculture, Umudike,Umuahia, Abia State), University of Abuja
(UNIABUJA),University of Port-Harcourt (UNIPORT), Federal University of
Petroleum.
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