History of University Institutions in Niger State

The idea to established a university in Niger State was first conceived in 1980 and by Feb 1983 the school was officially commissioned by the Federal Civilian Government of President Shehu Shagari. The commissioning was when Malam Awwal Ibrahim was the Governor of the state while Professor J. Ndogi  was the pioneer Vice Chancellor. The school is federal government owned.

After the creation of the state in 1976 by the then military government, it took Niger seven years to be able to get a university in it state. However, this does not translate to means that the residents of the state prior to having a university institution did not get the said higher school of learning education, the fact is, they received it from other states of the country.

The idea to established a university in Niger State was first conceived in 1980 and by Feb 1983 the school was officially commissioned by the Federal Civilian Government of President Shehu Shagari. The commissioning was when Malam Awwal Ibrahim was the Governor of the state while Professor J. Ndogi  was the pioneer Vice Chancellor. The school is federal government owned.

The second university in Niger State, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University, an institution name on the name of a former Nigeria military head of state was created in 2004, that was 21 years after the establishment of the first university in the state.

The university was founded just because the state aspired to have a university institution which it can called it own. Two, the creation of the school has to do with creating more university education opportunity for the state indigene. Three, the idea to locate it in Lapai was aimed to bring development to the town and to bring university education closer to some other tribes in the state.

Immediately after the commencement of education activities on the campus of the school in 2005, the state government of Governor Yohana Kure made appointment of  Professor Musa Abdullahi  as the pioneer Vice Chancellor.

As at time this article was being writing the two universities has a combine number of 20,000 undergraduate students and 3200 postgraduate students. The two institutions boosted total number of 1048 administrative staffs.

The state is agitating for establishment of more universities for some of the reasons mentioned above and their expectation this time center toward the private organizations to complement the government efforts. Until now there is no private university in Niger.