7 Things You May Not Know About University Of Ibadan

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1. University of Ibadan Started as Yaba College, Lagos

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 as
University 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 then
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 


Did you know that the following notable Nigerians
and Politicians are alumni of the University of
Ibadan? You will probably know some of them
attended UI but other inclusions may come to you
as surprises. Here is a short list of some people
you might not know attended UI.
1. Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart
2. Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth
Secretary-General
3. Michael Omolewa, former President of
UNESCO General Conference and
Ambassador of Nigeria to UNESCO
4. Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State
5. J. P. Clark, Nigerian poet and playwright
6. Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize
in Literature
7. Grace Alele-Williams, first Nigerian woman to
become the head (vice-chancellor) of a
Nigerian university, the University of Benin
8. William Kumuyi, Founder and General
Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life
Ministry
9. Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nigerian writer, television
producer and environmental activist
10. 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
Resources (FUPRE).
The catchment area of UI is the whole of Nigeria. In
this regard, UI is bringing candidates from all parts
of Nigeria to write the examination. 

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