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Nigeria's First Female Geophysicist: Deborah Ajakaiye
First Nigerian Mining Engineer: Dr. Ezekiel Adekunle Ifaturoti - he obtained a degree in mining engineering, becoming the first Nigerian to obtain such degree (born on October 16, 1920, in Epe, Lagos State into the family of late Prince Emmanuel Adegbola Ifaturoti and his wife, Christianah Aina Ifaturoti ( nee George.)
Nigeria's First Chief Geologist: Dr Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru
First Nigerian & the first ever Howard graduate recipient of the Poincaré Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology for postgraduate studiest (1st class degree in Electrical Engineering at HOWARD University, USA):Miss Oluwatosin Otitoju
First Nigerian to receive a PhD in mathematics (1950). Professor Chike Obi was born on April 7, 1921 and married with four children, he retired from academia and found the Nanna Institute for Scientific Studies, Onitsha. He was a politician, mathematician and professor and died March 13, 2008.
A Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, the world renowned mathematics scholar won the Ecklund Prize from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics for original work in Differential Equations, and pioneering works in mathematics in Africa. He had earned his doctoral degree in 1950, specialising in Non-linear Differential Equations at the Pembrooke College, University of Cambridge, England.
Immediately after his first degree, he won a scholarship to do research study at Pembroke College, Cambridge, followed by doctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, becoming in 1950, the first Nigerian to receive a PhD in mathematics.
In 1997, Obi claimed to have found an elementary proof to Fermat’s Last Theorem. This work was carried out at his Nanna Institute for Scientific Studies in Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria and published in Algebras, Groups and Geometries. A review of this proof published in Mathematical Reviews claims that Obi's proof is a previously-known false proof. Fermat’s Last Theorem had already been solved in 1994 by Andrew Wiles and Richard Taylor using modern technological aid. But Chike Obi, in a summary of his seminal paper, used a method which "looks very much like the way Fermat must have proved his theorem in the 17th Century." Obi's research, conducted at his Nanna Institute for Scientific Studies based in Onitsha, Anambra State, was published in the international journal {Algebras Groups and Geometries} Volume 15, Pages 289 to 299 (1998). In this work, Obi presented an elementary proof of the theorem.
The review of Chike Obi's 10 page solution to Fermat's Last Theorem by F. Beukers, was printed in Mathematical Reviews and can be found at: http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/PEEPS/obi-chike-fermat-review.html. Also see bottom of this page for other documents on Fermat's Last Theorem.
The first Nigerian university: University of Ibadan
It was established in 1948 at Ibadan, in the western region as an external college of the University of London.
The origins of the university are in Yaba College, founded in 1932 in Yaba, Lagos as the first tertiary educational institute in Nigeria. Yaba College was transferred to Ibadan, becoming the University College of Ibadan, in 1948. 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 Jones, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, inaugurated the new educational institution. The university was originally instituted as an independent external college of the University of London, when it was called University College, Ibadan. Some of the original buildings were designed by the English modernist architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew. 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 a celebration marked by talking drums, the Rt. Hon. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of independent Nigeria, became the first Chancellor of its independent university. The first Nigerian vice chancellor of the university was Kenneth Dike, after whom the University of Ibadan's library is named.
The first residential hall in the university: Mellanby Hall (male, undergraduate). Located to the North of the University Court and named after Kenneth Mellanby, the first Principal of the University College, Ibadan (1947-53). Mellanby has a characteristically cool and serene ambience. It was formally opened on 17 November 1952, and has a capacity for well over 400 students.
The first female hall: Queen Elizabeth II Hall (female, undergraduate). Located along Oduduwa Road. It is named after Queen Elizabeth II, who visited the University of Ibadan in February, 1956 and performed the formal opening ceremony of the Hall. It has a capacity of over 650 students.
Nigeria’s first private online university: Beni American University founded by Gossy Ukanwoke (March 2012). Beni American University presently offers courses in Journalism, Corporate Diplomacy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
First person to receive a doctoral degree in History from a Nigerian university: Adiele Afigbo
Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo (22 November 1937 – 9 March 2009) was a Nigerian historian known for the history and historiography of Africa, more particularly Igbo history and the history of Southeastern Nigeria. Themes emphasized include pre-colonial and colonial history, inter-group relations, the Aro and the slave trade, the art and science of history in Africa, and nation-building.
Afigbo was born at Ihube, Okigwe, in present day Imo State. His formal education began in 1944 at Methodist Central School
Afigbo gained admission to study history at University College, Ibadan (then affiliated with University of London), with a scholarship from the government of Eastern Nigeria. With the help of a post-graduate scholarships awarded by the university to the best graduating students he studied for his Doctoral degree at the University of Ibadan. Adiele Afigbo had not only graduated top of his class, but also was the first among his colleagues to complete his Ph.D. With this, he became the first person to receive a doctoral degree in History from a Nigerian university.
Nigeria’s first website on socio-political issues of Nigeria: Segun Toyin Dawodu, MD, JD, MBA, LL.M, MS a physician, attorney, academic, and entrepreneur.
Segun Toyin Dawodu (born October 13, 1960 in Nigeria) is an Associate Professor of Pain Medicine at Albany Medical College.
He has been a major contributor to the peer-reviewed articles on eMedicine which merged with Medscape with such articles becoming major sources of information for physicians, resident physicians and medical students all over world in the diagnosis and management of Spinal Cord Injury, Cauda Equina and Conus Medullaris Syndromes, Swallowing Disorders and Traumatic Brain Injury.
He established the first website on Nigeria's socio-political issues, Dawodu.com, in 1998 leading the way to the establishment of other similar websites on Nigeria issues.
He also established the first website on the history and people of the old Benin Kingdom, edo-nation.net, in 1998 and provided the first free email service from a Nigerian organization
He was a pioneer member of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Nigeria in 1987.
He is a graduate of Medicine (MD) from University of Ibadan, Nigeria, of Law from University of London/Queen Mary (LL.B and LL.M), graduate of Medical Informatics (Master of Science) from North-western University and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School with an MBA. He is board certified in the medical specialties of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pain Medicine, Sports Medicine, Spinal Cord Injury Medicine and Electro-diagnostic Medicine. He is also a diplomate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Scotland.
He is a licensed Physician in the United States in the District of Columbia, States of New York, Virginia, Maryland, Indiana & Pennsylvania, in United Kingdom with the General Medical Council, Nigeria with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and Medical Board of Trinidad and Tobago. He is also a licensed Medical Informatician as a specialist in Medical informatics/ Health informatics with the United Kingdom Council For Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP).
He was previously (2000-2001) a Clinical Instructor of Traumatic Brain Injury and Stroke Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital/Medical School in New York City before going into solo private practice.
He has served in many capacities in different professional organizations including being currently a member of the editorial board in the Knowledge NOW publications of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, membership of different committees of the American Academy of Neuromuscular and Electro-diagnostic Medicine, etc.
He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Fellow of the American Academy of Neuromuscular and Electro-diagnostic Medicine, Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Member of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, and Member/Diplomate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
The first Principal of the University College, Ibadan (from 1947- 1953): Kenneth Mellanby, ecologist and entomologist
Major Kenneth Mellanby CBE (26 March 1908 – 23 December 1993) was an English ecologist and entomologist.
In 1961, Mellanby founded and served as director of the Monks Wood Experimental Station, an ecological research centre in Huntingdon, England. He started the journal Environmental Pollution in 1970, and was the author of many books. Mellanby was instrumental in founding Nigeria's first University, the University of Ibadan and was its first principal (1947–1953). Mellanby Hall, the university's first student hall of residence, is named after him.
The first teaching hospital in Nigeria: University College Hospital, Ibadan.
The first open heart surgical operation at the University College Hospital (UCH) was in 1978 and the team comprised Professors Adebonojo, Adebo, Akinyemi and Grillo.
The first attempt at medical education in a Nigerian institution: The Abeokuta Experimental Medical School pioneered by Dr. A. A. Harrison. Under the impetus of Rev. Henry Venn, Dr. A. A. Harrison started a "medical school" at the Church Missionary Society Theological Institute at Abeokuta, Ogun State in 1861. Nathaniel King was one of the four "promising native youths" selected to be trained by Dr. Harrison. They used four copies of Hooper's Physician's Manual, supplied by the parent committee of the Church Missionary Society at Salisbury Square, London. Dr. Harrison’s courses included: anatomy, physiology, chemistry, botany, material medical and surveying.
The Abeokuta Experimental Medical School was unfortunately short-lived. One student was dismissed, two were sent to teach in Lagos Schools, and only Nathaniel King, who had made encouraging progress, was left. He became Dr. Harrison's personal assistant. When Harrison died in 1864, the first attempt at medical education in a Nigerian institution was prematurely concluded.
The first Nigerian to obtain a doctorate in medicine: Prof. Kelsey Harrison
The first Nigerian University to produce the first set of Nigerian trained nuclear engineers: The University of Port-Harcourt (UNIPORT) (February 2014)
The programme was carried out in collaboration with the University of Maiduguri, ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile-Ife, and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with sponsorship from the National Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC).
The programme was designed to last for 15 months and had the students spending a month on registration in the University, after which they proceeded to the Research Centre provided by NAEC in Sheda, Abuja for six months and thereafter returned to do courses related to the programme and their projects. The resource persons which came from all over the world were drawn from the 3 collaborating universities, NAEC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The first Primary School in Nigeria: Methodist Primary School, Lagos 1842, by Methodist Missionaries.
The first open heart surgical operation in Nigeria was undertaken in 1974 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu. The team was led by visiting Professor Yaccoub from the UK and others in the team included Professors Udekwu and Anyanwu.
The first University graduate in the Nigerian Army: General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (Ikemba Nnewi). The former military Governor of defunct Eastern Nigeria and first President of defunct Republic of Biafra. He made history as the first Nigerian university graduate to join the Nigerian Army in 1957 as a recruit when he joined with a master’s degree in history from the prestigious Oxford University, England.
The First female hostel in the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA: November 2011, Commissioned by the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Olusola Obada.
Hon Dr Justice Joseph Olakunle Orojo Phd, OFR, CON, ACIArb. The first Nigerian director of The Nigerian Law School, former chief judge of Ondo State, author, company law expert, former chairman NLRC, chartered arbitrator
The First Formal education started in Nigeria in 1842.
The first Nigerian to have formal art training: Aina Onabolu (1882 – 1963)
Aina Onabolu is credited as the father of modern Nigerian art. He was certainly a pioneer in being the first Nigerian to have formal art training, enrolling in St. John’s Wood Art School, London, in 1920. But his art career had begun two decades earlier when, self-taught, he took up portrait painting and landscape painting. A pioneer in promoting art education in Nigerian schools, Onabolu felt duty-bound to demonstrate that Africans could paint as well as Europeans.
Aina Onabolu (1882-1963) holds a revered position in the history of twentieth-century Nigerian art. Though not a great painter, he was undoubtedly a trailblazer, a promoter of art, and an advocate of art education. Initially self-taught, he achieved some acclaim as a portrait and landscape painter in Lagos during the decades 1900 to 1920. In 1920 he set sail for England and France, where he studied art at St. Johns Wood School, Académie Julian in Paris, and the Royal Academy of Art in London. He completed his studies with a diploma in fine arts and a teacher's certificate from St. John Woods College, London in 1922. Back in Nigeria, he set about laying the foundation for art education in this British colony whose educational curriculum excluded art. An art syllabus was eventually accepted. Onabolu’s other noteworthy legacy was inspiring a younger generation of artists. He was also instrumental in getting Kenneth C. Murray invited to Nigeria to teach art, a move that had far reaching ramifications for Nigerian art.
Aina Onabolu was born in Ijebu-Ode in 1882. His father was a successful merchant and his mother was also a trader. He started painting at the early age of 12, inspired by the cheap re-produced illustrations of Western arts which were prominent in many Nigerian magazines and religious books. By the age of 32, he was able to exhibit his own works and was quite popular as a knowledgeable and skilled artist.
The first Nigerian indigenous Vice Chancellor was Prof Kenneth Onwuka Dike
The first primary school in Northern Nigeria: founded in 1865 under Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, and thus representing the beginnings of Boko learning and English literacy north of the Niger.
It stands in the grounds of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Lokoja, Kogi State, and is still a working primary school, under the control of government.
Bishiop Crowther LGA Primary School which is the first in Northern Nigeria, was established in 1865 by the Anglican missionary in Lokoja.
The first mission school in Nigeria was founded in 1843 by Methodists, it was the Anglican Church Missionary Society that pushed forward in the early 1850s to found a chain of missions and schools, followed quickly in the late 1850s by the Roman Catholics.
In 1887 in what is now southern Nigeria, an education department was founded that began setting curricula requirements and administered grants to the mission societies.
The first secondary grammar school in Nigeria: Christ Mission Society School (CMS) grammar school, Lagos (1859). Originally located at Cotton House, Marina but relocated to Odunlami Street and then Bariga in 1958.
The CMS Grammar School produced not only the first set of educated elite in Nigeria, it was also the first school to introduce the teaching of science at the secondary school level.
The first Co-Education established in Nigeria: Aggrey Memorial College, Arochukwu, Imo State established in 1932 as a Secondary School Teachers Training Institute
The first Northerner to attend the Yaba Higher College in Lagos: Sa'adu Zungur - A poet, journalist and nationalist born in 1915. Zungur is a highly intelligent, articulate political activist. He used Poetry as a form of passive protest and was responsible alongside Abubakar Imam, Aminu Kano and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa for forming quasi-political associations geared towards political discussion. He was recruited by Nnamdi Azikiwe to write for the West African Pilot, later joining the NCNC and becoming Secretary General. He left the NCNC and co-founded the NPC, with R.A.B Dikko and others. Later leaving to form NEPU, where he remained active till his death in 1958, from long term ill-health.
The first Cambridge examinations held in Nigeria were in 1910. The Cambridge University Local examinations were introduced by the government for the few secondary schools in the South in 1910.
The first West African School Certificate Examination and the General Certificate of Education Examinations, under the control of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) were held in 1953.
The first eastern University in Nigeria: University of Nigeria, Nsukka, established in 1960.
The first northern University in Nigeria: The University of Northern Nigeria – founded in 1962 and located in Zaria, Kaduna state. It is named after Sir Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and was transferred to federal control in 1975.
The first government owned secondary school in Nigeria that was established by an Act of British Parliament: Kings College, Lagos, on Monday, 20 September 1909. Its objective was to produce students of profound character and academic distinction. But for the British Government, the college was established to "provide for the youth of the colony a higher general education than that supplied by the existing schools".
King's College, Lagos is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students on its original site at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits male students only, although there were some female (A Level) HSC students before the establishment of Queen's College Lagos. Now the school conducts exams for the West African School-Leaving Certificate and the National Examinations Council.
It was also the first secondary school to present candidates for the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate Examination in 1912.
The first senior prefect Kings College, Lagos: Isaac Ladipo Oluwole
Isaac Ladipo Oluwole (1892–1953) was a Nigerian doctor who made important improvements to the public health services in Nigeria.
Isaac Ladipo Oluwole was born around 1892, son of the Anglican bishop Isaac Oluwole. He and James Churchill Vaughan were both among the pioneer students at King's College, Lagos when it opened in September 1909. Oluwole was the first Senior Prefect of the School. Later Oluwole and Vaughan both went to the University of Glasgow to study Medicine from 1913 to 1918. The two students were the first Nigerian students at the University of Glasgow, studying medicine. They were conspicuous by their colour, and were subject to racial prejudice. Oluwole was called "Darkness visible" after the phrase from Milton's Paradise Lost.
After graduating as MB, ChB in 1918, Oluwole returned to Nigeria. He went into general practice in Abeokuta for a few years, then returned to Glasgow to take his DPH.
In 1925 Oluwole was appointed the first African assistant Medical Officer of Health in Lagos. Oluwole also founded the first School of Hygiene in Nigeria (1925), at Yaba, Lagos, providing training to Sanitary Inspectors from all parts of Nigeria. On graduation they obtained the Diploma of the Royal Institute of Public Health, London. He re-organised sanitary inspection procedures in the port of Lagos to control the spread of bubonic plague. The plague, breaking out in unsanitary shanty towns in Lagos, caused many deaths between 1924 and 1930. Many of the slums were demolished, forcing their inhabitants to resettle into the unregulated suburbs.
In 1940 Oluwole was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE). When he died in 1953 he was recognized as the father of public health in Nigeria.
James Churchill Vaughan (30 May 1893 – 1937) was a Nigerian doctor and a prominent political activist.
Vaughan was born in Lagos on 30 May 1893, the son of James Wilson Vaughan. His father was a prosperous Lagos merchant. He was among the first set of scholars at King's College, Lagos when it was founded in 1909. Vaughan and Isaac Ladipo Oluwole were the two first Nigerian students at the University of Glasgow, studying medicine there from 1913 to 1918, when they graduated with medical degrees. The two students were subject to racial prejudice. In the program for the final dinner in 1918, Vaughan was given an epithet after Robert Burns's "The Twa Dogs", likening him to a foreign born dog, "whalpit some place far abroad"
Returning to Nigeria in the early 1920s, Vaughan set up a private clinic. He also provided free medical services for the destitute. Vaughan attempted with little success to collate the works of the pioneering Nigerian doctor Oguntola Sapara, who had taken a special interest in traditional herbal medicines, but had left only fragmentary records of his researches.
Vaughan became an outspoken critic of the British Colonial Administration, and was one of the founders of the Lagos Youth Movement in1934; along with other leading activists including Dr Kofo Abayomi, Hezekiah Oladipo Davies, Ernest Sissei Ikoli, and Samuel Akinsanya. Vaughan was the first president of the movement. The Lagos Youth Movement originally had improvement of higher education as its goal, but within four years had become the most influential nationalist organization in the country. It was renamed the Nigerian Youth Movement in 1936 to emphasize its pan-Nigerian objectives. One of the early issues was the curriculum of medical teaching at the Yaba Higher College.
Vaughan and Isaac Ladipo Oluwole were the two first Nigerian students at the University of Glasgow, studying medicine there from 1913 to 1918, when they graduated with medical degrees.
The first headmaster of Kings College: Mr. Lomax
The first African principal of Kings College: Rex Akpofure
The Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) was Nigeria's first genuine nationalist organization, founded in Lagos in 1933 with the name of Samuel Akinsanya.
Immediate concerns included the supposedly inferior status of Yaba College, appointments of Africans to senior positions in the civil service and discrimination against African truck drivers. However, the Lagos-based organization at first had generally moderate views and pledged to support and cooperate with the governor. The president was Dr Kofo Abayomi. Ernest Ikoli was vice president and H.O. Davis was the secretary. It was the first multi-ethnic organization in Nigeria and its programme was to foster political advancement of the country and enhance the socio-economic status of the Nigerian citizens. Adeyemo Alakija later became President of the NYM.
The movement originally started as the Lagos youth movement, it was partly formed to voice concerns about the lackluster colonial higher education policy. The movement was largely Lagos based but as varied members entered the organization, it metamorphosed to become the Nigerian Youth Movement; a political action group with a nationalistic flavor and outlook. Nnamdi Azikiwe, an important political personality joined the group in 1936 and brought in a large followership.
The first American-style University to be established in Sub-Saharan Africa: American University of Nigeria (AUN). It was founded in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State as ABTI American University of Nigeria (AAUN) by Abubakar Atiku (Nigeria’s vice president between 1999 and 2007) in 2005. He has said that having benefited from the U.S. system of instruction as a young man, he was eager to make available in Nigeria an American trained faculty – emphasizing critical thinking, small classes, student participation, problem-solving. AUN has received special recognition from Google. The University also featured prominently in a $40 million money-laundering investigation by the United States Senate, targeted at Abubakar and his business interests. In 2012 Atiku donated $750,000 to the National Peace Corps Association in the United States, "to fund a new initiative featuring global leaders who will discuss Peace Corps’s impact." It was the largest ever individual donation in the Association's history.
The first post secondary educational institution in Nigeria: Yaba College of Technology. It was established in 1932 and opened in 1934 as a technical institute in Lagos.
The first Voluntary Agency-Owned Comprehensive High School in the Western Region of Nigeria: December 8, 1965 - The Adeola Odutola Comprehensive College (a merger of The Secondary Commercial College and Olu Iwa College). It was modelled after the Government Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro.
The first Principal of the Secondary Commercial College, Ijebu-Ode: J. Onyakwere (1945). The school had a total of sixteen all male registered students.
The first private elementary school in Ijebu-Ode: Sanni Luba Nursery/Primary School, along Atan/Erunwa road.
The first Primary School was built in Ondo in 1890 by the Missionaries.
The first western style school: Badagry, with much assistance from William de Graft, a prominent Methodist missionary.
The first Nigerian students at the University of Glasgow came to study medicine in 1913. James Churchill Vaughan and Isaac Lapido Oluwole graduated with a medical degree in 1918.
The first state university in Nigeria: Anambra state University of science and technology now Unizik
The first Nigerian secondary school to win world secondary school football trophy: Christ the King College, Onitsha.
The first governor to establish a state university in Nigeria: Jim Nwobodo.
First Nigerian Head of WAEC: Professor Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike
The first Nigerian pupil to record 15 'A's in Britain's GCSE: Chidera Ota.
Chidera was 16 years old, a student at Highsted Grammar School, Sittingbourne, Kent, when she achieved the grades in English literature and language, maths, statistics, French, German, Latin, history, sociology, chemistry, biology, physics and an IT qualification worth three GCSEs.
Her parents are Uchenna, a GP, and Mercy, a nurse in the Isle of Sheppey.
The youngest person to pass a GCSE: Dee Alli at the age of five.
Dee, who lives with her parents, Joy and Rasheed Alli, in Southwark, South London, gained a C in maths after finding the exam 'very easy'.
She began attending Saturday classes with Excellence in Education in November 2009, an educational charity which aims to help talented youngsters in inner cities.
Dee said: 'I find maths very, very easy. I didn't know I was taking the exam - I thought it was a game. Maths is a big game with numbers.
'I found it very easy because it was mostly questions about the difference between numbers. I'm very surprised to be the youngest ever. I'm very proud of myself.'
Her brother, Jude, hit the headlines when he sat his maths GCSE aged six and gained a D.
The first Nigerian Professor of Anatomy: Professor Ige Grillo.
The first Nigerian professor of Landscape Architecture: Professor Ukachukwu Aloysius Awuzie(1996)
Awuzie hails from Umuzike, Orlu local government area of Imo State. He attended St. Martins School, Owerri Ebeiri, Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu College of Immaculate Conception; Enugu University of Nigeria, Enugu, Campus and University of Massachusetts, Amherst, U.S.A. From these Institutions, he gained his FLSC with Distinction, WASC with Division One Distinction, B.Arch. 2nd Class Upper Division and Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA). Apart from the outstanding brilliance from His academic records, it is most remarkable that from His primary School through to His Master’s Degree (B. Arch and MLA) he read on Scholarships, Umuzike Town Union, Isu County Council scholarship, to the Federal Government of Nigeria Scholarship for His Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies. He was a foundation Scholar of University of Nigeria and Recipient of University of Massachusetts Scholarship for Academic excellence.
After Stint in the private sector, he joined the services of Imo State University in 1985, and in 1996 he became the first Nigerian Professor of Landscape Architecture. He has a lot of academic publications to his credit. Professionally, Prof. Awuzie is a registered Architect and a Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Architects and Member International Federation of Landscape Architects (IPLA).
Professor Awuzie is known more in Nigeria for his brilliant performance as the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) (2008-2012). As Professor of Landscape architecture, his leadership changed for good the landscape of University education in Nigeria. National Chairman, Association of Architectural Educators 2007-2012. He was also President of Rotary club of Okigwe in 1993.
Prof. Awuzie is happily married to Nneoma Lady Ethel-Rose Awuzie and the marriage is blessed with five children.
The first Nigerian to obtain a Ph.d in Law: Dr. Taslim Olawale Elias was born on the 14th November, 1914. The son of Momolesho Elias, he came from one of the earliest Moslem families in Lagos.
It was as late ad 1926 when he was 12 that he was sent to primary school.
After a series of double promotions, he finished at Igbobi College in 1934, with exemption from the London Matriculation.
Between 1934 and 1944 he worked at the Nigerian Railway. He realised the civil service was not his calling.
He was admitted into the University College, London in 1944 and graduated in law two years later.
He competed for and won the coveted Yarborough- Anderson scholarship of the Inner Temple at the University and got his Master of Laws. He was again awarded a post- graduate scholarship. He thus became the first Nigerian to have been made a scholar of his professional Inn of Court and of his university. He is also the first Nigerian to obtain a Ph.d in Law.
When the British declared Nigeria independent on 1st October, 1960, Dr. Elias was appointed the first Attorney General and Minister of Justice by Tafawa Balewa. He was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Lagos.
He held the position of Attorney General for about 11 years.
- 1972-75, Chief Justice of Nigeria.
- 1976-91, Judge at the International Court of Justice.
- 1979-82, Vice President at the International Court of Justice.
- 1982-85,president at the International Court of Justice.
- Dr. Elias died on the 14th August, 1991.
- Daily Times. 21st February, 1972
The first Nigerian Chairman of the Board of the University College Hospital: Sir Kofo Abayomi (1896- 1979)Opthamologist & Politician (Picture on website)
He was born Kofoworola John in Lagos of Oyo heritage. He attended Methodist Boys' High School Lagos and studied Pharmacy at the Yaba Higher College. He went on to study Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and specialised as an Opthamologist. He later became the first private practitioner to be elected president of the Nigerian Medical Association. In 1930 he changed his surname to Abayomi and married Oyinkan Ajasa(later Lady Abayomi). Abayomi was a founding member of the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) in 1933 and later its President. He was also a prominent member of the Action Group. He became the first Nigerian Chairman of the Board of the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Abayomi was knighted in 1954.
The first Nigerian to specialize in psychiatry: Thomas Adeoye Lambo, having started work in this field as early as 1954.
Thomas Adeoye Lambo (March 29, 1923 – March 13, 2004) was a Nigerian scholar, administrator and psychiatrist. He is credited as the first western trained psychiatrist in Nigeria and Africa. Between 1971 and 1988, he worked at the World Health Organization, becoming the agency's deputy director general.
Lambo was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State. He attended the famous Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta from 1935 to 1940. He then proceeded to the University of Birmingham, where he studied medicine. To further his studies and become specialized, in 1952, he enrolled at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. Adeoye Lambo in due time became famous for his work in ethno-psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology.
Peter Ebigbo. He was the first Nigerian Clinical Psychologist and, at one time, he was Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus ; the only psychologist in the country burdened and awarded with such a responsibility.
The first girls' school in Nigeria was established in Lagos in 1907
The first Faculty of Pharmacy in West Africa and the first Department of Chemical Engineering in a Nigerian University: Obafemi Awolowo University is a government-owned and -operated Nigerian university. The university is in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, led by late chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and was renamed Obafemi Awolowo University on 12 May 1987 in honour of Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909–1987), first premier of the Western Region of Nigeria, whose brainchild the university was.
The decision to establish the University of Ife (popularly referred to as "Great Ife") by the ruling Action Group party of the Western Region of Nigeria was in protest at the recommendations of the Ashby commission. The first Nigerian university was established in 1948 at Ibadan, in the western region as an external college of the University of London. However, the needs of Nigeria (then a British colony) far outstripped the productivity of the only university. In particular the University College at Ibadan had no faculty of engineering or technology, no law school, no pharmacy school or management training abilities. The Ashby commission, set up by the British, was to review tertiary education needs of the soon-to-be-independent nation of Nigeria.
In 1959, the Ashby commission recommended additional (regional) universities in the northern and eastern regions of Nigeria and another federal university in the Lagos protectorate, but none in the more educationally advanced western region which had a 'free and universal primary education' program. The government of the western region did not want to rely on the federal universities or those of other regions to admit its numerous secondary school leavers.
The protest of the foundation of the university at Ife was not only in rebuttal to the perceived politicization of higher education opportunities in Nigeria and the western region but was also designed to fill the gaps in the manpower needs.
Ife started the first Faculty of Pharmacy in West Africa, the first Department of Chemical Engineering and the first Electronics component in addition to Electrical Engineering. Its medical school started with an integrated curriculum and community orientation (which was later adopted by the World Health Organization) and a compulsory baccalaureate (BSc honours) before entrance to the clinical school, but this was later jettisoned.
The first State University in Nigeria
1. Anambra State University (of Science and Technology) 1979
2. River State University, 1980
3. Imo State University, 1981
Madonna University is one of the first private Universities granted accreditation in Nigeria and the first Catholic University in Nigeria; enjoying both Stately and Ecclesiastical approval.
(According to the National Universities Commission, Igbinedion University , Okada, Babcock University , Ilishan Remo and Madonna University , Okija, all three received their founding approval on 10th May 1999, with certificate numbers 001 and 002 to the first two respectively)
Founded on 10 May 1999 in Ihiala, Anambra State, it was established by E.M.P. Edeh (Very Rev. Fr. Prof. E. M. P. Edeh (CSSP) (OFR)). Edeh had founded Our Saviour Institute of Science and Technology in Enugu the previous year.
The first private university providing for the study of medicine: Igbinedion University Okada (IUO) is a private university in Nigeria founded in 1999, located at Okada Wonderland in Okada, a town beside Benin City, Edo state. The university was founded by Sir Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, a millionaire, philanthropist and local leader.
(According to the National Universities Commission, Igbinedion University , Okada, Babcock University , Ilishan Remo and Madonna University , Okija, all three received their founding approval on 10th May 1999, with certificate numbers 001 and 002 to the first two respectively)
In 2006, a student of the university, Mr Sunday Damilola Olawuyi obtained a First Class Honours degree in the highly competitive Nigerian Bar examinations, thereby making the university the first private university in Nigeria to have achieved that feat.
The university came into existence following the presentation of a certificate of approval on the 16th of May 1999 by the Federal Government (Certificate No. 001). Thus Igbinedion University became the first licensed Private University in Nigeria. The foundation students arrived at Okada on Friday 15th October 1999.
Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo: The first Adventist University in Nigeria and one of the first private Universities granted accreditation in Nigeria
The great education experience that is now Babcock University (BU) has its roots in the Adventist College of West Africa (ACWA), established on September 17, 1959 with an initial intake of seven ministerial students.
The University is fully owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, and registered under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to operate as a private University and, as such, does not receive any government grants.
A major bridge crossed by the institution in its quest for a charter as Babcock University, was the Accreditation Visit by a team from the National Universities Commission (NUC), representing government, the first of its kind ever in the history of the nation. This was in response to the application of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria, for the establishment of a private tertiary institution with diverse programs ranging from the Arts to various science disciplines, technology and medicine. The Certificate of Registration No. 002 was handed over to the President of the Africa-Indian Ocean Division of Seventh-day Adventists, pioneer BU.
The University was formally inaugurated by the Proprietors on June 17, 1999, in the presence of various ecclesiastical, governmental, diplomatic corps and local community leaders and dignitaries. Babcock University finally opened its gates to welcome the premier intake of 1006 students on September 13, 1999 and Prof. Jan Paulsen, General Conference (GC) President and world leader of Seventh-day Adventist Church, in his official capacity as Visitor to the University presided over the maiden Matriculations Ceremony on January 28, 2000.
The first Business School in Nigeria: Lagos Business School (LBS)
Lagos Business School (LBS) began in 1991 as a small institution called the Centre for Professional Communications (CPC), offering management courses relevant to the Nigerian business environment. LBS started with John Elegido, Patrick Merino and Tim Keenley as founding members of staff. It was previously owned by the African Development Foundation (ADF), a Nigerian not-for-profit educational foundation, but is now owned by the Pan-African University Foundation.
With a view to begin offering an MBA programme at LBS, the ADF applied for the license to operate a private university. While awaiting approval, LBS began a joint Executive MBA programme with IESE Business School, Barcelona in 1996. In January 2002, the Federal Government granted approval for the establishment of Pan-African University (now Pan-Atlantic University), and Lagos Business School thus became the first school of the University able to offer its own Executive MBA programme in the same year.
By 2007, LBS had consolidated its status as Nigeria’s premier business school by ranking for the first time among the top 50 business schools in the world, in the area of open enrolment programmes, by the Financial Times of London. LBS is still the only Nigerian business school to be included in this prestigious world ranking.
The first African to obtain a Ph.D in the Industry and Systems engineering field: Dr. Augustine Onwuyali Esogbue
Dr. Esogbue is a Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Director of the Intelligent Systems and Controls Laboratory which is currently investigating a hybrid approach to intelligent control via fuzzy sets and neural networks. He is also a key member of the NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. He is considerably involved in a number of civic activities locally in Atlanta and globally. Dr. Esogbue has received multiple national and international honors and awards including the NASA Public Service medal and Outstanding Citizen of Georgia and Goodwill Ambassador Awards for his work. Dr. Esogbue is also currently (as at 2014) the only African American member of NASA's Safety Advisory Pane.
Dr. Esogbue holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics from the University of California, Dr. Esogbue received an M.S. in Industrial Engineering/Operations Research from Columbia University. He received a Ph.D in Systems Engineering and Operations Research from University of Southern California where he was the first African to obtain a Ph.D in the Industry and Systems engineering field. He has also studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he received a certificate in advance health systems dynamic modeling. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Nigerian Academy of Sciences and Kerr L. White Institute for Health Services Research.
Dr. Augustine Esogbue is also the first black to make 3.98 GPA at John Hopkins University.
The first Pro-Chancellor of Pan African University, Lagos: Prof. Albert Alos; Chief Olu Akinkugbe (Chairman of the Governing Council respectively)
The first Training School to produce an Indigenous Nigerian President: The Hope Waddell Institution. Established in 1895 by Missionaries about 19 years before Nigeria came into being, the Hope Waddell Institution, Calabar, produced Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first President, Akanu Ibiam, Governor of the Eastern State, as well as leaders across the length of West Africa. The first principal of the school is Reverend Macgregor and the first indigenous principal was Sir Dr. Francis Akanu Ibiam, an Igbo man (1957 – 1960).
The game of football was first played on the grounds of this school in 1902. Before this date it had not been played in the country,and not even on the continent. At that time it was called ‘Calabar game’. Later, graduates of the school took football to Lagos, where it quickly caught on. The same goes for Cricket which was first played at Hope Waddell in 1903, another first by the school. This too had never previously been played on the continent. The school also boast the first printing press on the continent (The Mission Press).
The Mission Press in Hope Waddell produced the first issue of the Calabar Observer on May 30, 1902.’On this the principal adds ‘Hope Waddell played a major role in promoting printing in West Africa, in particular, and Africa in general. Some newspapers were also printed here during the colonial times.
The Hope Waddell Institution was set up by the Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1895. It owes its origins to the pressure exerted by Mary Slessor, a Scottish Missionary, who was already doing beautiful work among the communities around Calabar at about 1894. E.U. Aye writing on the early days of the school states ‘By 1900 the institution was fully recognized by the government as a major factor in the educational development in West Africa, and received its first official visit by an inspector of schools sent from Lagos.’ (p.15). Frederick Lugard visited the school on December 12, 1912. Aye quotes Lugard ‘I am able to offer my honest congratulations to Mr. Macgregor and his staff on what seems to me an admirably conducted school on the right lines’. In 1927 Mr A.G. Fraser, the Principal of Achimota College, Ghana visited the school. Aye refers to his comments thus ‘I have greatly enjoyed seeing this very fine Institution and its scholars at work. My visit was short, but I saw much to admire and nothing to criticize.’
The era of modern art and formal artistic instruction began in the 1920s. It began when Kenneth C. Murray from Great Britain travelled to Nigeria in 1927 and taught art in secondary schools. He was the first formal arts teacher to integrate art training into a classroom.
In 1955, Yaba Higher College opened its first art department.
The Nigerian College of Arts, Sciences and Technology: Established 1953, Ibadan; It was moved to Zaria in 1956 and became Nigeria’s first formal arts school. Ahmadu Bello University was established in Zaria in 1961, and it took over the Nigerian College of Arts, Sciences and Technology’s art department.
The University of Ife (present-day Obafemi Awolowo University) launched a fine arts degree program in 1973. The University of Benin launched a fine arts degree program in 1975.
The first Faculty of Creative Arts in Nigeria: The University of Benin started its Art department in the 70s. The major mover of the first Faculty of Creative Arts in Nigeria was Solomon Wangboje who ensured the employment of expatriated such as Doris Rogers, Ermma Francis, Clarry Nelson-Cole and notable Nigerian lecturers including Madam Ngbodaga-Ugu (the only Nigerian teacher in Zaria in the 50s).
The first Nigerian to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of London: Stephen Oluwole Awokoya (1946)
Born in July 1913, Awokoya attended Sagun United Primary School in Oro, St. Andrew’s College in Oyo, and Yaba Higher College in Lagos. He served as minister of education for the Western Region, resigning in 1956. Awokoya was an active member of the Action Group. He worked with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization from 1967 to 1968 on improving science education. In 1973, Awokoya was a researcher for the University of Ife (present-day Obafemi Awolowo University).
The first postsecondary educational institution in Nigeria: Yaba Higher College. Established in 1932 and opened in 1934 as a technical institute in Lagos, Yaba was the first postsecondary educational institution in Nigeria. The number of student vacancies was contingent upon job openings in the colonial administration. In its first year, Yaba received over a hundred applications, but only admitted 18 students. The focus of the college was vocational training for jobs as technicians and clerks. Much of the college was moved from Lagos to Ibadan in December 1947 to become the core of University College, which later became the University of Ibadan. During the six years it operated, its largest class was 60 students. During the entire existence of the college, it only had two female students. Aspects of the college survived and became a new institution of higher education. In 1955, Yaba Higher College created an art department and took in its first art students. In 1969, its name was changed to Yaba College of Technology. In 1979, it was called Federal Polytechnic Yaba. Several significant Nigerians attended the college, including the novelist Cyprian Ekwensi, the artist Omodele Jegede, and politicians Chief Solomon Erediauwa I and Michael Okpara.
The first northern student at Yaba Higher College in Lagos in the 1930s: Sa’adu Zungur (1915–1958). Born in Bauchi State, Zungur studied at Yaba Higher College in Lagos in the 1930s as the first northern student. He was a popular Hausa poet and political activist. Zungur worked as a community health inspector and teacher between 1938 and 1948. In the 1940s, he helped form the Zaria Friendly Society. In 1943, he cofounded the Bauchi General Improvement Union. He was a key member of the Northern Elements Progressive Union, starting in 1954, and gave the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) its name. He also worked with Nnamdi Azikiwe and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). From 1948 to 1950, Zungur served as secretary of the NCNC. He is recognized as having a strong influence on Alhaji Muhammed Aminu Kano. Zungur also influenced the general population through his anticolonial and secular poetry. His most famous poem focuses on the return of Nigerian soldiers from fighting in Asia during World War II.
Pioneer of formal education in Nigeria: Sir Chief Alvan Azimwa Ikoku (1900–1971). Born in August 1900 in Arochukwu, in Abia State, Ikoku was the son of a successful merchant. He completed his primary education at Government School in Calabar and his secondary at Hope Waddell Training Institute. In 1920, he started teaching for the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Two years later, he began teaching at St. Paul’s Teacher Training College and at the same time earned advanced degrees through correspondence. He is considered a pioneer of formal education in Nigeria. Between 1921 and 1931, he worked as a schoolmaster, tutor, and teacher at schools such as Hope Waddell and Church Missionary Society Training College. In 1928, he received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of London. Three years later, he started Aggrey Memorial College (named after a famous Ghanaian educator), a private secondary school in Arochukwu.
Professor Oladele Ajose (MD, PhD) a Glasgow University graduate and Nigeria's first professor of public health recruited from the University of Ibadan. He served from 1962 to 1966, until political upheavals and military coups led him to be replaced.
The first Nigerian recipient of a doctoral degree in education: Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa (23 September 1923 – 11 October 2010). An emeritus Professor of Education; First Dean of the Faculty of Education and Acting Vice-Chancellor, University of Nigeria (1964 - 1966); Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and the first Nigerian recipient of a doctoral degree in education when He earned a Ph.D. in Education from New York University in 1958.
Osayuki Godwin Oshodin (born August 9, 1950): The first Bini-man to occupy the position of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin since the university was established in 1970.
The first Dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Benin was Professor T. Bell-Osagie. He was Dean from 1973-1975.
Professor Is-haq Oloyede is the first Unilorin alumnus to occupy the position of Vice Chancellor
The first state owned University in northern Nigeria: Benue State University.
The first-ever all Nigerian Universities Debate Championship held at the University of Calabar last week.
Many vice chancellors did not attend but sponsored their delegates and officials.
Organisers said that the championship was to prepare Nigerian universities for the upcoming pan-African Universities Debate Championship billed to hold from 29th November to 6th December 2013 at the University of Calabar.
The universities that participated were Bayero University Kano who sent in four debaters, Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, 4, University of lagos,6, University of Science and Technology Port Harcourt, 4, University of Uyo, 4, Cross River State University of Technology,4, Imo State University, 2 and Michael Okpara University owerri,3 and the host University of Calabar, 4.
The University of Calabar was also the first to participate in the first continental debate (the pan-African universities debate championship) at Windhoek, Namibia in 2009. In 2010, we attended the championship at Bostwana and were there again in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 2011 where we won the bid to host it in 2013. Last year, at the championship held at Tshawane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa we were again the only Nigerian university.”
Nigeria’s first ever Desert Research Centre to conduct research in and proffer solutions to the problems of desertification in the country. Yobe State University - Established by Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam
The first university of education in Nigeria: The Tai Solarin University of Education. It is located in Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
The first college of medicine in Nigeria: College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL)
The first public University to move to its permanent site within two years: Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH). Before this, academic and administrative activities were concentrated on the same spot called the ‘take-off campus’ of respective institutions.
The Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, was founded in 2010, got its pioneer Governing Council on September 27 of the same year and matriculated the first set of students on March 3, 2011.
The Kwararafa University, founded by WUCOLEE Nigeria LTD is the first and only Community –based University in Nigeria. The University was approved by the Federal Government and duly licensed for operation in June 2005. It admitted its first batch of students in March, 2006. The University has 3 Colleges (Social and Management Sciences, Education and Natural and Applied Sciences). A College of Humanities will be in introduced in the 2013-2014 Academic Session.
The University has Prof. Jerry Gana, (CON) as the Pro- Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council and Prof. Yakubu Aboki Ochefu as the Vice-Chancellor. The city of Wukari where the University is located is a peaceful ancient traditional town, located along the Jalingo- Makurdi federal highway, approximately 200km from the capital cities of Jalingo in TarabaState and Makurdi in BenueState.
Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, as it is known today, was at inception in 1982 a pride to itself as a University sought after and as of today, the first university in Nigeria that has within a quarter of a century had its name changed four times. The name was changed to Ondo State University in 1985, University of Ado-Ekiti in November 1999, and to its present name Ekiti State University of Ado Ekiti in September 2011.
In the year 2007, a new civilian Government was installed in Ekiti State. The Government established two new state owned Universities, in addition to the existing University of Ado-Ekiti. The names of the two Universities were The University of Education, Ikere-Ekiti and The University of Science and Technology, Ifaki-Ekiti. These two Universities, along with the existing University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, were funded from the public treasury; this took a great toll on the public purse and led to the polarisation of the educational system.
In the year 2010, there was a change of Government in Ekiti State and the new Government convened a Statewide Education Summit in 2011 to consider the best ways to sustain tertiary education and to fund public institutions owned by the Government of Ekiti State. Part of the decisions taken at the Summit were to merge the three state-owned universities as a single public institution. The Ekiti State Government by law merged The University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria; The University of Education, Ikere-Ekiti and the University of Science and Technology, Ifaki-Ekiti as a new university and renamed it as: EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Subsequently, the National Universities Commission, Abuja (Nigeria), licensed the University consolidating all the assets and records of the three universities as one institution.
The first in West Africa to develop a Film Village as a training and production facility for film producers and actors from the Nigerian Nollywood and from around the world: Kwara State University, Nigeria. The university won the UNESCO Chair in alternative energy and is the first to do so in the Africa UNESCO Category II Asia Studies Institute.
Nigeria's first Baptist secondary school: Baptist Boys' High School, Abeokuta
The first Principal of Urhobo College, Effurun: Mr. M. G. Ejaife
The first Urhobo College Effurun graduate to earn the PhD did it in the field of genetics from the University of Cambridge in 1964: Matthew Scott-Emuapkor, who became the first professor of genetics in the Department of Botany at the University of Ibadan in 1978.
The first Urhobo College Effurun product to become full university professor in any field of study:Dr. David T. Okpako, he achieved it in pharmacology at the University of Ibadan in 1977.
The first Urhobo College Effurun product to qualify in Medicine: Prince Sunday Mebitaghan.
The first President-General of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU): Mukoro Nowoe
Julius Ifidon Ola (JIO) is a native of Ora in present day Edo State. After Urhobo College Effurun, Ola entered Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone for a Durham BA. He later joined the civil service and after the Midwest Region was created out of the Western Region in 1963, he was one of the youngest among the first set of Permanent Secretaries to be created for the Midwest Region of Nigeria.
Christopher Orji, an Igbo, Ojaide and Matthew Scott-Emuakpor were the first Urhobo College Effurun boys to enter University College, Ibadan (UCI) in 1957.
Covenant University became the first University in Nigeria and Africa to host the Launch of UN Global Report (October 2011), the first University in Nigeria and one of the very few in Africa to start training SAP Consultants in collaboration with SAP University Alliances and SAP Education in 2011 and also the only University in Nigeria and one of the very few in Africa with both the Autodesk Authorised Training and Certification Centre. It also received the Best Marketing Students Award of the Year at the NIMN Award 2011 and the joint winner of the first edition of Unilever Idea Trophy. The Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities Conference which was held at the African Leadership Development Centre at Covenant University, 27–30 June 2011, the first time such a meeting was hosted by a Private University in Nigeria.
The first school of the Pan African University: The Lagos Business School (LBS). The Federal Government of Nigeria approved Pan-African University in 2002. In 2007, LBS is ranked among the top 50 business schools in the area of Executive Education for the first time. It has remained in the ranking since then.
The first African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology was held in 2003 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The attendees undertook to improve the quality of science and technology education, and saw that the PAU would be necessary to improve the quality of science education and thereby to improve productivity of African economies. These ideas were elaborated in a "concept note" which outlined the objectives of the PAU. In 2008 the African Union agreed that the PAU should be established. A high-level panel was appointed in 2009 to oversee the PAU. The panel includes Njabulo Ndebele, author and former vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and Ahmadou Lamine Ndiaye, president of the Sénégal Academy of Science and Technology.
The first private university of technology established in Nigeria: Bells University of Technology. It was established in 2004, and began admitting students from the 2005/2006 academic session.
The first Islamic University in Southern Nigeria: Crescent University, Abeokuta. Its establishment was the vision of Judge Bola Abdul Jabbar Ajibola, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, also one-time Judge at the World Court in Hague, Switzerland.
The first Islamic University in Nigeria: Katsina University, Katsina (KUK)
The first private university in Delta State: Novena University, located in the serene environment of Ukwuani land.
The first private university in northern Nigeria: The University of Mkar in Benue State
The first professor of sports in Africa: Prof. Michael Ajisafe
The first principal of Egbado College, Ilaro: Chief Jonathan Akinremi Olawole Odebiyi (1923-2002)
Born on March 11, 1923, Odebiyi was educated at CMS Grammar School, Lagos and Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone from where he earned a Bachelors degree in English, Latin and History. He also attended the Institute of Education, University of London. Before his foray into politics, he was a teacher at his alma mater, CMS Grammar School, and Abeokuta Grammar School, Abeokuta. In 1951, he became the first principal of Egbado College, Ilaro.He was especially popular among his Yewa people and was honoured with chieftaincy titles and the equally prestigious status of Patron of the Conference of Yewa Elders. In 1951, he became the first principal of Egbado College, Ilaro.
The first professor of primary care at the University of Lagos: Olikoye Ransome-Kuti (1927 – 2003)
Ransome-Kuti was born in Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria, the son of the Reverend Oladotun Ransome-Kuti and Fumilayo Ransome-Kuti, a campaigner for women's rights. His brother, Beko, is a prominent human rights campaigner and his cousin is the dramatist and Noble Laureate Wole Soyinka. After his education at Abeokuta grammar school, Higher College Yaba, Lagos, and University College, Ibadan, Nigeria, he studied medicine at Trinity College, University of Dublin, from 1948 to 1954. He then worked as a house surgeon in the UK, a house doctor at the General Hospital, Lagos, and in various capacities at University College Hospital, Ibadan. In 1960, he began postgraduate training in paediatrics at the Institute of Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and Hammersmith Hospital in London. He earned the BA, MB, BCh, BAO from the University of Dublin.
After excelling at his medical studies at Dublin and his paediatric specialty training in London, he returned to become the first Nigerian professor of paediatrics at the University of Lagos College of Medicine.
After postgraduate training in the UK, he returned to Ibadan and, in 1970, became professor and head of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Lagos; in 1978, he became the first professor of primary care there. After several years as teacher and mentor, he realised that the solution to the major child health problems he saw daily in the hospital lay in the communities from which the children came. His career, thus, extended beyond the walls of universities into the community. In 1968, he set up an experimental family health clinic to assess the effectiveness of nurses in the direct delivery of preventive and curative services to mothers and children. This project provided the impetus for the establishment of the Institute of Child Health and Primary Care at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, and an academic programme as part of pre-service medical training.
Collaborating with like-minded colleagues, he was able to obtain support, first from the Ford Foundation and later from Johns Hopkins, USAID and a variety of other sources, to pioneer the creation of innovative integrated child and maternal primary care services, first in Lagos and later in pilot programmes in all four corners of Nigeria. These efforts were so successful that he was invited by the government to implement these programmes on a national scale.
Ransome-Kuti also transformed research into policy. He became the director of the National Basic Health Services Scheme Implementation Agency for Nigeria in 1976. In this post, he was involved in a first attempt to set up a national health system for Nigeria, he identified other cadres of health workers to provide health care for, and in, the community, and established schools of health technology for their training.
Olikoye died from pulmonary embolism, aged 75 years, in London, UK, on June 1, 2003.
The pioneer Principal, Federal School of Medical Laboratory Technology, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom: Mr. Raphael O.A. Shonekan
The pioneer Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Offa: Engr. (Mrs.) Taiwo Adeife Osemeikhian
The National Open University of Nigeria is an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institution, the first of its kind in the West African sub-region. The first Vice Chancellor: Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede, (15 October 2003 to 14 October 2010)
The first Girls’ Government Secondary School to be established in northern Nigeria: Queen Elizabeth School (QES) Ilorin. The first Principal of the school, Miss Player, an Italian who is now late, willed 1,000 Pounds to the school at the time of her death.
The first Provost, College of Education (Technical) Lafia: Dr. Mrs. Comfort Adu
The first state funded Teaching hospital in Nnewi: Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT)
CRUTECH's first Female Professor: Prof (Mrs). Akon Joshua is a Professor of Educational Psychology and the present DVC Academics of the Cross River State University of Science &Technology, Calabar.
Professor O. C. Onwudike: He was the pioneer Dean of the College of Animal Science and Animal Health in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike from 1994 – 1996 and the first Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University from 1996 – 1999. From January 2000 to January 2001, he was appointed the Acting Vice-Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and from February 1, 2001 to January 31, 2006 he served as the Vice-Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.
The first University in Taraba State: Kwararafa University, Wukari, Taraba Stata (formerly Wukari Jubilee University in 2005)
PIONEER VICE-CHANCELLORS
FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES
University of Ibadan: Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike (1960 – 1967)
Prof Kenneth Onwuka Dike: University of Ibadan’s first Nigerian indigenous Vice Chancellor (thus he was Nigeria’ first ever VC). He established the Nigerian National Archives. He also headed Nigerian Antiquities Commission that set up the National Museum and eventually founded the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos. Dike was among organizers of the first World Festival of Negro Arts which was held in 1968.
Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike inaugurated the radical scholarship of African History as the pioneer Direct-General of the Institute of African Studies. Kenneth Dike, a historian known for his study of pre-colonial Nigerian history, the first Nigerian Vice-Chancellor of the oldest Nigerian University University of Ibadan and the person who set up Nigeria's National Archives. During the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970) Prof Dike was a roving ambassador for the Biafra cause. He went into exile at the end of the Civil war becoming the first Mellon Professor of African History at Harvard University. He returned to Nigeria to become the founding Vice-Chancellor of what is today the Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
University of Nigeria, Nsukka: Dr. George Marion Johnson (1960 – 1964); Professor Glen L. Taggart: 1964 – 1966; Professor Eni Njoku (July 1966 - 1967; 1967 – 1970 -The first indigenous Vice-Chancellor)
Professor Eni Njoku (1917 – 1974) was born on November 6, 1917 in Ebem, Ohafia, Abia State, Professor Eni Njoku was educated at Ebem Primary School and attended Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar between 1933 and 1936. He went to Yaba Higher School (now Yaba College of Technology) Lagos in 1937.
Eni Njoku studied botany at the University of Manchester in England. He graduated with a first class honours degree in 1947 and obtained his M.A. degree the following year. In 1954, he obtained his doctorate from the University of London.
When he returned to Nigeria, Eni Njoku took up teaching appointment at the University of Ibadan as a lecturer. Later he became a senior lecturer and then professor. He was head and dean of the faculty of science. He was chairman of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria in 1956. In 1962, he became the first vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos. Following a major crisis in 1965 over his re-appointment, he resigned and became a visiting professor at the Michigan State University, United States. In 1966, Njoku was made the vice-chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he remained till the outbreak of the civil war in 1967.
Njoku served on the boards of the Commonwealth Scientific Committee, the United Nations Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology as well as the UNESCO Advisory Committee in Natural Sciences. He also served in the councils of the Universities of Zambia and Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo). He wrote several books and articles in international journals. He received the honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Nigeria in 1964, and in 1966 Michigan State University conferred on him an honorary doctor of laws degree and in 1973 Unilag awarded its first vice-chancellor an honorary D.Sc. degree.
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria: Dr. Norman S. Alexander (1962 – 1966); Dr. Ishaya Shuaibu Audu (1966-1975 - The first indigenous Vice-Chancellor)
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife: Professor Oladele Ajose (1962 – 1966)
University of Benin: Professor Glyn O. Phillips (1970-1973)
Bayero University, Kano: Mahmud Tukur (September 1975-1977)
University of Calabar: Prof. Emmanuel Ayandele (1976-1981)
University of Ilorin: Dr. T.N. Tamuno (first Principal Sep.1975-Dec.1975); Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe (Sep.1975; In October 1977, the institution attained full autonomous status making him the first indigenous Vice-Chancellor).
University of Jos: Professor Gilbert Onuaguluchi (from 1975)
University of Maiduguri: Professor E. U. Essien-Udom (1975-1979); Late Alhaji Hamidu Alkali (first Principal-1976)
University of Port-Harcourt: Prof. Donald E. U. Ekong (1977 – 1982); Also the founding Principal from 1975.
Usmanu Danfodiyo University: Professor Shehu Gala-danci
Federal University of Technology, Owerri: Prof. U.D. Gomwalk (1980–1986)
Federal University of Technology, Akure: Late Professor Theodore Idibiye Francis
Federal University of Technology, Minna: Professor Jonathan Osman Ndagi (1983 to 1990)
Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna: Ajie Anthony Ukpabi Asika (Pioneer Provost)
Federal University of Technology Yola: Professor Ethelbert N. Chukwu (1981)
University of Abuja, Gwagwalada: Dr. Gambo Laraba Abdullahi
University of Agriculture, Abeokuta: Professor Nurudeen Olorun-Nimbe Adedipe
University of Agriculture, Makurdi: Professor Francis S. Idachaba (1988-1995)
University of Uyo: Professor Rasaki Afolabi Lasisi
Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike: Professor Placid C. Njoku
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka: Prof. Anayo D. Nkamnebe
National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos: Prof. Olugbemiro O. Jegede
Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun: Prof. Babatunde Alabi (2010)
STATE UNIVERSITIES
Rivers State University of Science & Technology: Professor Turner Timinipre Isoun (1980 - 1982)
Abia State University, Uturu: Professor Michael J.C. Echeruo (1981 - 1988)
Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma: Prof. M. I. Ogbeide (January 15, 1982 - January 21, 1982) replaced by Prof. V. E. Aimakhu (Acting VC)
Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye: Late Prof. John Olubi Sodipo (November 1982–December 1990)
Lagos State University Ojo, Lagos: Professor Folabi Olumide
University of Ado-Ekiti: Prof. Ifedayo Olawole Oladapo
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso: Professor Olusegun Ladimeji Oke (1990 - 1995)
Benue State University, Makurdi: Professor Charles Vajime
Delta State University Abraka: Professor Olorogun Frank Ukoli. Ukoli is the first Urhobo man to earn a PhD and also the first Urhobo man to become a professor at the University of Ibadan and the first Vice-Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka.
Imo State University, Owerri: Professor Michael J. C. Echeruo (1981- 1988)
Kogi State University Anyigba: Professor Simon K. Okwute (2000 - 2005)
Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki: Professor Fidelis Ogah
Kano University of Science & Technology, Wudil: Professor Umar Garba Danbatta (Ag. 2001); Professor Sauuka Abdul Hady Abouel Seoud (an Egyptian, 2002)
Niger Delta Unversity, Yenagoa: Professor John Buseri
Adamawa State University, Mubi: Professor Abdurrahman Ghaji
Nasarawa State University, Keffi: Interim administrator (Vice Chancellor), Professor Adamu Baikie
Akwa Ibom State University of Technology, Uyo: Prof. Sunday W. Peters (Acting from Nov.2007; Substantive Jan.2010)
Gombe State Univeristy, Gombe: Prof. Abdullahi Mahadi
Kaduna State University, Kaduna: Professor Abubakar Sani Sambo
Plateau State University, Bokkos: Prof. John W. Wade
Tai Solarin Univ. of Education, Ijebu-Ode: Professor Olukayode Oyesiku; He succeeded the provost.
Bukar Abba Ibrahim University, Damaturu: Prof. Muhammad Nur Alkali (2007)
Kebbi State University, Kebbi: Prof. Mohammed Ka’oje Abubakar
Osun State University, Oshogbo: Prof. Sola Akinrinade
Ondo State University of Science & Technology, Okitipupa: Professor Tolu Odugbemi
Taraba State University, Jalingo: Prof. Ahmed Usman Jalingo
University of Education, Ikere Ekiti: Prof. Samuel Oye Bandele
Kwara State University, Ilorin: Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah
Sokoto State University, Sokoto: Professor Nuhu Yakub
PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
Babcock University,Ilishan-Remo: Pastor (Prof.) Adekunle Alagbe Alalade (1999-2006)
Igbinedion University Okada: Prof. Anthony U. Osagie (29th Oct. 1999); Prof. Emmanuel Uwumagbuhunmwun. Emovon – Interim Vice-Chancellor 14th Oct. 1999 – 29th Oct. 1999
Bowen University, Iwo: Professor T.A Okedara
Benson Idahosa University, Benin City: Prof. Eghosa E. Osaghae
Covenant University Ota: Prof. Bola Ayeni
American University of Nigeria, Yola: Dr. David Huwiler (President)
Ajayi Crowther University, Ibadan: Prof. Olajire Olaniran
Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin: Professor Musbau Adewumi Akanji (November 2005 and January 2008)
Bells University of Technology, Otta: Professor Julius Okojie
Bingham University, New Karu: Prof. A.T. Gana
Crawford University, Igbesa: Professor Moses Toye Ige
Crescent University: Prof. Afola Lasisi
Lead City University, Ibadan: Professor Johnson B. Aladekomo
Renaissance University,Enugu: Prof. Ogwo Ekeoma Ogwo
University of Mkar, Mkar: Prof. Nancy Ngunan Agbe
Wukari Jubilee University: Prof. Godwin Owoicho Akpa (Nov.2007-2012); Professor Bako Sunday Paul (ag.Vice Chancellor 2007)
Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji: Prof. C. O. Oshun (2006 – March 2011)
Achievers University, Owo: Prof. J.Adebayo Odebiyi
African University of Science & Technology, Abuja: Prof. Hilary Inyang (2007)
Caleb University, Lagos: Prof. Timothy O. Tayo (2007-2010)
Fountain Unveristy, Oshogbo: Prof. Hussain O. Busoye Oloyede
Obong University, Obong Ntak: Prof. Enefiok S. Udo
Salem University, Lokoja: Prof. Paul Omojo Omaji
Tansian University, Umunya: Late Prof. Angulu Onwuejeogwu
Veritas University: Prof. (Fr.) Justin Sampson Ukpong
Wesley Univ. of Science & Technology, Ondo: Prof. Tola Badejo (2008)
Western Delta University, Oghara: Prof. Peter G. Hugbo
Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti – Ekiti State: Prof. Sidi Osho (2009? -2014)
Godfrey Okoye University, Ugwuomu-Nike – Enugu State: Rev. Fr. Prof. Christian C. Anieke
Nigerian-Turkish Nile University, Abuja: Prof. (Dr.) Levent Altıntop
Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu – Osun State: Professor Adekunle Alalade
Samuel Adegboyega University, a private institution founded in 2011 by The Apostolic Church and located in Ogwa, Esan West Local Government of Edo State: Professor Samson Folawunmi Adedoyin (2011).
Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State: Ola-Rotimi Matthew Ajayi
Renaissance University, Ugbawka, Enugu State: Ogwo Ekeoma Ogwo (2006 - 2011)
FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES
Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State(Dutse LG): Prof. Jibrila Dahiru Amin
Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State(Dutsin-Ma LG): Professor James Ortese I. Ayatse
Federal University Kashere, Gombe State (Akko LG): Prof Mohammed Kabiru Farouk
Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State (Lafia LG): Prof. Ekanem Ikpi Braide
Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State (Lokoja LG): Prof. Abdulmumini Hassan Rafindadi
Federal University Ndufu-Alike-Ikwo, Ebonyi State (Ikwo LG): Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe
Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State (Ogbia LG): Prof. Mobolaji Ebenezer Aluko
Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State (Oye LG): Prof. Chinedum Nebo (from February 2011); Prof. Charles Asuzu (from March 2013);
Federal University Wukari, Taraba State (Wukari LG): Prof. Geoffrey Okogbaa
The Federal University, Gashua, Yobe State: Professor Shehu Abdul Rahman
The Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State: Professor Lawal Suleiman Bilbis
The Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State: Professor Ben Chuks Okeke
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