Founded in 1948, University of Ibadan (UI), is the first university established in Nigeria. An affiliate College of the University of London at the time it was founded, it gained full independence in 1962. It began as a small institution with just three departments in Science, Medicine and the Arts. The university quickly expanded to become one of the country’s most prestigious higher education institution.
Today, UI has grown in leaps and bound comprising thirteen faculties, including Social Sciences, Agriculture and Forestry, Education, Veterinary Medicine, Technology, Law, Public Health and Dentistry.
UI parades the largest Postgraduate School in Africa, with its undergraduate and postgraduate student population being 50/50. Around a third of all students in the university live in halls of residence which are equipped with modern facilities like gyms, cafes and common rooms.
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The philosophy of UI is founded on making education available to all, with a well-established Distance Learning Centre where the same courses undertaken by full-time students are open to those whose access to education is restricted by finances or family obligations.
UI runs a number of public facilities, including a media resource centre that offers educational workshops, reading services and consultancies for schools and children’s libraries.
The university board of its own zoological and botanical gardens, housing endangered animals and plants, running conservation programmes dedicated to supporting environmental needs.
UI’s future infrastructure development plans include a new business school and an Institute for Infectious Diseases.
It is ranked Nigeria’s best university in the latest World University Rankings. According to the Times Higher Education (THE) rankings for 2023, UI occupies the 401-500 spot in global ranking, and first spot in Nigeria.
The Times Higher Education (THE) is a British magazine that specializes in higher education worldwide. In its latest World University Rankings 2023, no university in Nigeria made the first 300 on the list.
The 2023 ranking analyzed over 121 million citations across more than 15.5 million research publications. Over 1,799 universities across 104 countries and regions of the world were included. Besides, survey responses from 40,000 scholars globally were analyzed.
The university is currently headed by Professor Kayode Oyebode Adebowale, the 13th Vice-Chancellor who assumed office in October 2021. Professor Adebowale had served as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) of the university and Dean of the Faculty of Science before becoming the Vice Chancellor.
UI is popularly recognised as one of the universities with the highest numbers of great achievers, having produced a lot of public figures like Wole Soyinka (Writer, Poet, Professor, Nobel Laureate); the late Bola Ige (lawyer, politician); the late Professor Chinua Achebe (Writer, poet, literary critic); the late Ken Saro-Wiwa (Author, writer); the late Professor J.P Clark (writer), etc.
It provides a conducive environment where students can learn and achieve their potentiality, having about twelve halls of residence which provide accommodation for about 30% of the population of students.
UI also provides basic amenities like electricity, water supplies, adequate security right from the entrance of the school campus. The security is watertight, and hardly can anyone with ulterior motives escape the prying eyes of the security personnel, subjecting everyone to thorough scrutiny.
It does not condone cultism, even though it is reputed to have introduced Pirate Confraternity. However, the founder of the Pirate cult always claimed it was not established for war and violence, but rather to protect the interest of students.
Today, cultism thrives in most schools, but University of Ibadan has been able to eradicate it from its campus by hiring special security personnel, both on and off the school premises.
The institution provides adequate health facilities which includes mental health clinic. It offers public health services, laboratory services, medical social work services, pharmaceutical services and environmental health services.
The admission to the university is open to suitably qualified candidates who possess five ordinary level credits in five subjects not more than one sitting including both English and Mathematics, and six credits at two sittings in relevant subjects.
The Ibadan city, which houses the university is the most populous city in Oyo State with the population of about 3 million people, making it the third most populated city in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano.
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