The University of Ibadan is the oldest
Nigerian university, and is located five miles (8 kilometres) from the centre of the major city of
IbadanIbadan , the capital of Oyo State, is the third largest city in Nigeria by population , and the largest in geographical area. At independence, Ibadan was the largest and the most populous city in Nigeria and the third in Africa after Cairo and Johannesburg...
in Western Nigeria. It has over 12,000 students.
The University was founded on its own site on 17 November 1948. The site of the University was leased to the colonial authorities by Ibadan native chiefs for 999 years.
The University of Ibadan is the oldest
Nigerian university, and is located five miles (8 kilometres) from the centre of the major city of
IbadanIbadan , the capital of Oyo State, is the third largest city in Nigeria by population , and the largest in geographical area. At independence, Ibadan was the largest and the most populous city in Nigeria and the third in Africa after Cairo and Johannesburg...
in Western Nigeria. It has over 12,000 students.
The University was founded on its own site on 17 November 1948. The site of the University was leased to the colonial authorities by Ibadan native chiefs for 999 years. The first students began courses in January of that year.
Arthur Creech JonesArthur Creech Jones was a British trade union official and politician. Originally a civil servant, his imprisonment as a conscientious objector during the First World War forced him to change careers. A protegé of Ernest Bevin, he was elected to Parliament in 1935 and served in the Colonial Office...
, then
Secretary of State for the ColoniesThe Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increasingly troublesome North American colonies...
, inaugurated the new educational institution. The University was originally instituted as an independent external college of the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
, then it was called the
University College, Ibadan. Some of the original buildings were designed by the English modernist architects
Maxwell FryEdwin Maxwell Fry, CBE, RA, FRIBA, FRTPI, usually known as Maxwell Fry was an English modernist architect.-Biography:...
and
Jane DrewDame Jane Drew, DBE, FRIBA was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the AA School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern Movement in London....
. A 500-bed teaching hospital was added in 1957. The University of Ibadan became an independent university in 1962.
In late 1963, on the University playing fields, with the celebration marked by talking drums, the Rt. Hon. Sir
Abubakar Tafawa BalewaSir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was a Nigerian politician, and the first prime minister of an independent Nigeria. Originally a trained teacher, he became a vocal leader for Northern interest as one of the few educated Nigerians of his time...
, first Prime Minister of independent
NigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger...
, became the first Chancellor of its independent University. The first Nigerian vice chancellor of the university was professor
Kenneth DikeKenneth Dike was a Nigerian historian and the first Nigerian Vice Chancellor of the nation's premier college, the University of Ibadan. During the Nigerian civil war, he moved to Harvard University, Boston....
, after whom University of Ibadan's library is named.
Besides the College of Medicine, there are now ten other faculties: Arts, Science, Agriculture and Forestry, Social Sciences, Education, Veterinary Medicine, Technology, Law, Public Health and Dentistry.
The University has residential and sports facilities for staff and students on Campus, as well as separate botanical and zoological gardens.
University of Ibadan boasts among its former students several eminent scholars, including
Chinua AchebeChinua Achebe , born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe on 16 November 1930, is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart , which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.Raised by Christian parents in the Igbo village of Ogidi...
, author of
Things Fall ApartThings Fall Apartis a 1958 English-language novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first African...
;
Wole SoyinkaAkinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, the first African to be so honoured...
, winner of the 1986
Nobel Prize in LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
; Odia Ofeimun (a popular Nigerian poet);
Jacob Ade AjayiJacob Festus Ade Ajayi or J.F. Ade Ajayi is a Nigerian historian and a member of the Ibadan school, a group of scholars interested in introducing African perspectives to African history and focusing on the internal historical forces that shaped African lives...
(one of Africa's foremost historians); Paul Iyogun (Distinguished Operations Management Professor), Abiola Irele and the writer
Kole OmotoshoBankole Ajibabi Omotosho, known as Kole Omotosho or Kole Omotoso , is a Nigerian writer and intellectual known for his dedication and commitment to fusing a socio-political reappraisal of Africa and respect for human dignity into most of his works.-Early life and education:Kole Omotosho was born...
. Its faculty also includes the renowned Nigerian poet and folksinger
Niyi OsundareNiyi Osundare is a prolific poet, dramatist and literary critic. He gained degrees at the University of Ibadan , the University of Leeds and York University, Canada...
, who is Professor of English there. It remains a major pioneer in the development of research south of the Sahara.
Administration
The underlisted are some of the principal members of the University administration:
People
| Title |
Position |
| Dr. Wole Olanipekun (SAN) |
Pro-Chancellor |
| Professor Olufemi Bamiro |
Vice-Chancellor |
| Professor Elijah Bamgboye |
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) |
| Professor Adigun A.B. Agbaje |
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) |
| Professor Eyiwumi A. Falaye |
Dean of Students |
| Mrs. Omotayo O. Ikotun |
Registrar |
| Mr J. A. Bankole |
Bursar |
| Dr. Benedict A. Oladele |
Librarian |
Faculties
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Arts
- Basic Medical Sciences
- Clinical Sciences
- Dentistry
- Education
- Law
- Pharmacy
- Public Health
- Science
- The Social Sciences
- Technology
- Veterinary Medicine
Units
- The Registry
- Careers Placement and Counselling Unit
- Foreign Students Unit
- The Sports Council
- The Library
- The Computing Centre
- The Press
- The Bookshop
- The Botanical Garden
- The Zoological Garden
- University Media Centre, which houses the campus radio station, DIAMOND 101.1 FM.
- The Abadina Media Resource Centre
- Advancement Centre
- The University Health Services
Halls of residence
The University is primarily residential with Halls of residence for both male & Female students. There is also provision for accommodation of post-graduate students, the halls are listed below:
- Tedder Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
- Queen Elizabeth II Hall ---- (Female, Undergraduate)
- Mellanby Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
- Sultan Bello Hall ---- (Male, Undergraduate)
- Kuti hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
- Queen Idia Hall ----- (Female, Undergraduate)
- Obafemi Awolowo Hall ----- (Mixed, Undergraduate & Postgraduate)
- Nnamdi Azikiwe Hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
- Independence Hall ----- (Male, Undergraduate)
- Tafawa Balewa Hall ----- (Mixed, Postgraduate)
- Alexander Brown Hall ----- (Mixed, clinical medical, dental & physiotherapy students)
- New Hall -----
Notable alumni
Amongst the alumni of the University of Ibadan and other institutions that fall under that banner are:
- John Pepper Clark
John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo is a Nigerian poet and playwright who originally published under the name of J.P. Clark.-Life:...
- Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, the first African to be so honoured...
- Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe , born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe on 16 November 1930, is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart , which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.Raised by Christian parents in the Igbo village of Ogidi...
- Christopher Okigbo
Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo was a Nigerian poet, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as the outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet and one of the major modernist writers of the twentieth century.-Early life:Born on August 16, 1932, in...
- Ken Saro Wiwa
- Gamaliel Onosode
Gamaliel Offoritsenere Onosode is a Nigerian technocrat, administrator and a former presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People's Party of Nigeria. Educated at the government college, Ughelli and the University of Ibadan, he emerged in the 1970s, as one of Nigeria's leading educated chief...
- William F. Kumuyi
- Olu Falae
Samuel Oluyemisi Falae simply known as Olu Falae is a Nigerian politician from Akure, Ondo State. A banker by profession, he served as the Minister of Finance in the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
External links