The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, says it is marking its 63rd anniversary in a low-key manner, with special prayers.

The institution is 63 years old today, Saturday, October 4, 2025.

Auwalu Umar, director, public affairs directorate of the university, disclosed this in a statement issued in Zaria on Saturday.

He said: “The university, founded on October 4, 1962, marked the anniversary in a low-key manner, with special prayers offered by staff and students at mosques and churches across the two campuses.

“The special prayers offered by staff and students are for the continued growth and development of the institution.”

According to him, as part of the activities for the anniversary celebration, the Vice-Chancellor, Adamu Ahmed, will address a press conference highlighting the university’s major contributions to national, regional, and global development.

Mr Umar said ABU traced its origin to the recommendations of the 1959 Ashby Commission on Post-School Certificate and Higher Education, which proposed the establishment of a university in Zaria to serve the then Northern Region of Nigeria.

“A law establishing a Provisional Council for the proposed university was enacted in April 1961 by the Legislature of Northern Nigeria.

“The council was inaugurated in November 1961 under the Chairmanship of Sir Kashim Ibrahim, who later became Governor of Northern Nigeria and the university’s first Visitor.

“Sir Norman Stanley Alexander, a New Zealander and Professor of Physics at the then University College, Ibadan, was appointed as the first Principal and later Vice-Chancellor, assuming office in November 1961,” he said.

Mr Umar said the university was named after Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Nigeria, who also served as its first chancellor, and officially opened it on October 4, 1962.

“ABU evolved from several earlier institutions, including the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology, Zaria (founded in 1955); the Clerical Training Centre, Kongo (1957); the Samaru Agricultural Research Station (1924); and the Shika Stock Farm (1928),” he said.

The director said at inception, ABU had four faculties—agriculture, engineering, law, and science—with 15 academic departments and 426 students.

He added that following the Ahmadu Bello University (Transition) Provisions Decree of 1975, the institution became a federal university.

“From its pioneering Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Norman Stanley Alexander, to the current helmsman, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, ABU has expanded remarkably in size, scope, and academic depth.

“By 1987, the year of its 25th anniversary, ABU had become the largest and most extensive university in sub-Saharan Africa, occupying about 7,000 hectares,” he said

He said ABU currently had 18 faculties, 110 academic departments, and a College of Medical Sciences.

Others are a Postgraduate College, a Distance Learning Centre, the International Institute of Online Education, three Africa Centres of Excellence, and several Research Institutes and Centres.

(NAN)