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  • Ex-Canterbury Archbishop to speak on inter-ethnic, religious harmony at ABU lecture

    Ex-Canterbury Archbishop to speak on inter-ethnic, religious harmony at ABU lecture

    Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Right Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, will deliver a public lecture on inter-ethnic and religious harmony at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, on January 29.

    The lecture, titled “Building Inter-Ethnic and Religious Harmony in Nigeria: Pathways to National Unity,” is part of activities marking the university’s 45th Convocation Ceremony.

    It will hold at 10:00am at the Abdullahi Mahadi Conference Centre, Main Campus, Samaru, Zaria.

    Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of ABU Governing Council, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, CFR, will chair the occasion.

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    Welby served as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2013 until his resignation in 2024 and was the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion worldwide.

    A wide array of dignitaries is expected at the one-day lecture, including former Nigerian leaders, ministers, governors, traditional rulers, religious leaders and socio-cultural groups.

    ABU said Welby accepted the invitation as part of his contribution to dialogue on peace building, reconciliation and national cohesion in Nigeria.

    Beyond his clerical role, Welby is a co-director of Coventry Cathedral’s International Centre for Reconciliation and has worked extensively on conflict resolution in Africa and the Middle East.

    In Nigeria, he was involved in efforts to broker peace between Shell Oil Company and the Ogoni people in 2005 amid environmental and human rights disputes.

    As Archbishop of Canterbury, Welby officiated at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 and presided over the coronation of King Charles III in 2023, events noted for their inter-faith symbolism.

  • ABU develops blueprint on agriculture, human capacity development for Zamfara

    ABU develops blueprint on agriculture, human capacity development for Zamfara

    Ahmadu Bello University has proposed a unified, evidence-based, and fully integrated intervention to address agricultural and human capacity development in Zamfara State.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adamu Ahmed, presented the blueprint to His Excellency, Dr Dauda Lawal, the Executive Governor of Zamfara State.

    Prof Ahmed made the presentation when the governor came to the university to commission an upgraded departmental library at the institution’s Department of Political Science and International Studies.

    The governor, who is an alumnus of the university, having graduated from the Department of Political Science and International Studies in 1988, refurbished the library.

    Presenting the proposal to the governor, the Vice-Chancellor said the university developed the blueprint through its three leading agricultural research institutes – IAR, NAPRI, and NAERLS – as well as the Institute of Education and the Institute of Administration.

    The Vice-Chancellor, who acknowledged the effort of the governor in prioritising merit-based reforms in the state, explained that the proposal was at no cost to the Zamfara State government.

    He said the harmonised framework, as captured in the proposal, blends crop research and climate resilience, livestock innovation, last-mile extension delivery, and human capacity development into a single transportation agenda for the state.

    The interventions, according to him, would be run as capacity building in the mode of train-the-trainers and delivered largely via the virtual mode through the facilities of ABU Distance Learning Centre.

    The Vice-Chancellor explained that the goal was to restore crop and livestock productivity in the state as well as to strengthen the resilience of households and communities to climate shocks and challenges of insecurity.

    Read Also: Lawal commissions upgraded Political Science Library in ABU 

    He also said it was to train extension agents in modernized extension delivery systems, build institutional capacity of ministries, ADP, cooperatives, civil service, teacher service, and communities.

    Prof Ahmed further said the proposal was tailored towards transforming the state civil service through comprehensive capacity building programmes for senior, middle, and top directorate cadres.

    The Vice-Chancellor commended Governor Dauda Lawal for his administration’s decision to appoint permanent secretaries through rigorous examination processes rather than political favouritism.

    Ahmed also lauded Governor Dauda Lawal’s government for prioritizing capacity-building programmes, conducting training sessions for procurement staff, audit officers, and administrative leaders.

    Receiving the document, His Excellency, Dr Dauda Lawal, the Executive Governor of Zamfara, expressed his government’s immense gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor and the university management for the passion to help transform the state.

    Governor Dauda Lawal, who said he would remain grateful to Ahmadu Bello University for shaping his life, promised to continue to give back to his alma mater.

  • ABU denies running secret nuclear project

    ABU denies running secret nuclear project

    The Management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has dismissed as false and malicious a viral AI-generated video alleging that the institution is developing nuclear weapons for Nigeria.

    In a statement by the university’s Director of Public Affairs, Auwalu Umar, the management described the video, which has been circulating on social media, as the handiwork of “unscrupulous persons” bent on misleading the public and tarnishing the image of the university.

    The video had claimed that Nigerian scientists at ABU secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in the 1980s using sophisticated centrifuges obtained from Pakistan’s AQ Khan network, and that they were close to producing a nuclear device by 1987.

    But the university said the claims were “baseless fabrications,” pointing out that most of the scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), ABU, were still undergoing training abroad in the 1980s and only returned to the country in the early 1990s. “How could it have been possible for trainee scientists to enrich uranium?” the statement queried.

    It clarified that ABU and Nigeria have never had any connection with the AQ Khan network or any foreign source of nuclear weapons technology, adding that the only operational nuclear facility at the time was a 14 MeV Neutron Generator commissioned in 1988.

    According to the university, the country’s first major nuclear project, the Nigeria Research Reactor 1 (NIRR-1), was only initiated in 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) technical cooperation programme and commissioned in 2004 under a tripartite partnership involving China, Nigeria, and the IAEA.

    ABU stressed all its nuclear activities have been transparent and conducted in line with international safety and non-proliferation standards. 

    It explained that the NIRR-1 reactor, initially powered by highly enriched uranium, was converted to low enriched uranium in 2018 as part of global efforts to reduce nuclear threats.

    Read Also: ABU denies allegations of hidden Nuclear Weapon project

    The university reaffirmed that Nigeria, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1968 and the Pelindaba Treaty since 2009, is legally bound not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons or enrichment plants.

    “ABU and Nigeria have always pursued peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology for national development,” the statement noted, recalling that the university’s founder visited the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States in 1960, even before ABU was established, to promote peaceful use of atomic energy for humanity.

    The management urged the public to disregard the video and warned against the spread of false information capable of undermining national institutions and Nigeria’s reputation before international partners.

  • ABU denies allegations of hidden Nuclear Weapon project

    ABU denies allegations of hidden Nuclear Weapon project

    The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has dismissed as false a social media video alleging that the institution was involved in developing a Nuclear Weapon for Nigeria.

    Malam Auwalu Umar, Director Public Affairs Directorate of the university disclosed this in a statement issued to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Zaria.

    The director described the viral AI-generated video as misleading, aimed at misinforming the public about Nigeria’s peaceful nuclear energy programme.

    He said the video falsely claimed that Nigerian scientists in the 1980s secretly enriched weapons-grade uranium in Kaduna and that ABU researchers obtained centrifugal equipment from the AQ Khan network in Pakistan.

    The institution’s image-maker added that the information was baseless, unfounded and unsubstantiated.

    Umar said most of the ABU scientists at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT) were still undergoing training abroad as at 1980s and could not have participated in uranium enrichment.

    The director said ABU had no connection with the AQ Khan network and had never received any equipment for the construction of a centrifuge or nuclear device.

    He added that by 1987, the only nuclear facility at the university was a 14 MeV Neutron Generator, which became operational in 1988.

    “Nigeria’s first nuclear reactor (NIRR-1) was established much later in 1996 under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Programme and commissioned in 2004,” he said.

    Umar said Nigeria’s nuclear activities had always been open and pursued strictly for peaceful purposes, in line with the country’s obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Pelindaba Treaty, which prohibit the development of nuclear weapons.

    He reaffirmed that: “The Centre for Energy Research and Training, established in 1976, operates in collaboration with the IAEA and international partners from the U.S., Russia, and China.”

    Umar further explained that the center has never engaged in any secret weapons programme.

    “ABU has always pursued peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology for national development.

    “ABU’s founder, Sir Ahmadu Bello, had demonstrated early interest in peaceful atomic research following his visit to the Museum of Atomic Energy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the U.S. in 1960, two years before ABU was established.

    “The management, therefore, restated its commitment to advancing science and technology for the benefit of humanity and to upholding Nigeria’s international obligations on the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” he said.

    (NAN)

  • ABU committed to mentoring future leaders, says VC

    ABU committed to mentoring future leaders, says VC

    The Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, has reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to mentoring future Nigerian leaders. Ahmed spoke at the weekend during the maiden edition of “Lunch With the Vice Chancellor – An ABU Future Leaders’ Forum,” as part of the university’s 63rd anniversary celebrations.

    The vice chancellor said the programme aimed to nurture the next generation of leaders for Nigeria, embodying knowledge, character, and responsibility.

    He noted that ABU has produced many leaders, citing the institution’s alumni who have become presidents, vice presidents, state governors, ministers, and renowned professionals in various fields.

    Ahmed expressed pleasure in interacting with the students.

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    He expressed appreciation to the guest speaker and Chairman of Alternative Bank and Ahmed Zakari & Company, Mr. Muhtar Bakare, the generous sponsor of the programme, for their contributions to the event.

    “We are determined to help you carry the responsibility of leading Nigeria with courage and vision,” Ahmed told the students. “As the African proverb says, ‘The youth can walk faster, but the elders know the road.’

    “May today give you both the speed and the direction to lead Nigeria into a greater future.”

    The “Lunch with the Vice Chancellor,” the first programme out of many outlined to mark the ABU’s 63rd anniversary celebrations slated for October 4, is designed to provide a platform for students to interact with the university management and learn from distinguished guests.

    The institution said the programme would be held twice yearly, to produce the next generation of leaders committed to Nigeria’s growth and sustainable development.

  • NiMet, ABU seal pact on weather station, climate, nuclear research

    NiMet, ABU seal pact on weather station, climate, nuclear research

    The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) is set to establish a mini-Automatic Weather Station (AWOS) at the Centre for Energy Research and Training (CERT), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, to support the licensing requirements for the Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1).

    The initiative is part of a broader partnership sealed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on Monday in Abuja between NiMet and CERT for collaborative research and development.

    Under the deal, NiMet will not only install and maintain the weather station but will also work with ABU’s energy research centre to promote and localise its Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP), ensuring data from the station feeds into national climate advisories.

    In a major boost to academia, the agency will allow ABU staff and students access to its vast meteorological and climate data for teaching, research and training purposes — subject to its data policy.

    NiMet’s Director-General, Prof. Charles Anosike, and ABU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, signed on behalf of their institutions. 

    Read Also: NiMet: human lives, buildings, others at risk of extreme weather

    The ceremony was witnessed by top university officials, including the Registrar, Malam Rabiu Samaila, CERT Director, Prof. S.A. Jonah, and Malam Hamza Sani of Physical Planning and Municipal Services.

    Both parties also agreed to jointly pursue cutting-edge research in meteorology, climatology, nuclear science and material analyses to deliver outputs of global standard.

    As part of the arrangement, NiMet will identify sites for gaseous and Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) mapping around airports and bear costs for consumables needed in nuclear instrumentation training.

    CERT on its part will provide land and infrastructure for the weather station, support NiMet’s soil fertility analysis to strengthen seasonal climate prediction, and build NiMet’s capacity in advanced environmental analysis — including harmattan dust and NORM evaluations.

    The centre will further train NiMet personnel in nuclear science and facilitate high-impact collaborative research, enhancing the agency’s flagship products such as the E-SCP, climate review bulletins, agro-meteorological advisories, and drought and flood monitoring reports.

  • N2.5bn frozen account cripples ABU operations – V-C

    N2.5bn frozen account cripples ABU operations – V-C

    Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has decried costly legal battles and garnishing of the sum of over N2.5 billion as major factors exerting pressure on the effective running of the university.

    Prof. Kabir Bala, Vice-Chancellor of the university disclosed this at the 44th Convocation Ceremony held at Mamman Kontagora Square, ABU Main Campus, Samaru, Zaria on Saturday.

    He noted that ABU like many other Nigerian universities face financial challenges to support its vision of sustaining and modernising its activities and operations.

    The V-C was particular about the order of the National Industrial Court which had ordered the university’s account with the Central Bank garnished in the sum of N2.585 billion.

    Bala noted with dismay that the affected account of the university contained third-party funds such as local and foreign research grants, and funds belonging to units of the university that were affiliated to and supported by external organisations.

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    The vice-chancellor added that the garnished account also contained funds meant for TETFUND projects, programmes and foreign scholars.

    He explained that as a result of the order, all aspects of operations requiring complementation of certain expenditures such as sanitation, electricity and other forms of utilities were severely hampered.

    Bala therefore, called for greater collaboration among all stakeholders to fashion out more innovative ways of ensuring the smooth running of the university.

    Earlier, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the university, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale-Ahmed said the Nigeria university system was engulfed with challenges, involving funding, governance and management.

    Yayale-Ahmed advocated for financial independence and minimal bureaucratic interference towards ensuring that the university remains a hub for intellectual discourse and innovation.

    In his remarks, the Chancellor of the university, Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha tasked the graduands to leverage the 21st century as the age of digital and social revolution.

    The 44th convocation ceremony celebrated 21,952 graduands for the 2023/24 academic session.

    Of the total, 5,756 obtained postgraduate degrees, while 16,196 bagged bachelor degrees.

  • ABU to confer honorary degrees on ex-CJN Uwais, two others

    ABU to confer honorary degrees on ex-CJN Uwais, two others

    Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria has approved the award for Honorary Degrees to former Chief Justice Justice Lawal Uwais and two other eminent personalities at its 43rd Convocation.

    In a statement, the university’s Director, Public Affairs Directorate, Auwalu Umar, in Zaria, said the ceremony is scheduled for January 27.

    He said besides Uwais, the two other honorees are the late Wazirin Fika, Malam Adamu Mu’azzam Fika, and the former African Union Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao.

    “Justice Uwais will be conferred with the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) Honoris Causa, the late Fika is recommended for posthumous conferment with the degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) Honoris Causa.

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    “While Ambassador Chihombori-Quao is to receive the degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) Honoris Causa,” Umar said.

    He added that ABU’s decision to confer the personalities with the degrees was in accordance with Statute 11 of the institution’s Laws.

    Umar added that Uwais had an excellent career in the Nigerian judiciary and international judicial organisations between 1964 and 2006.

    He said Uwais rose through the ranks by dint of hard work and dedication to duty to become the Chief Justice in 1995.

  • Fertiliser firm partners ABU on maize production

    A fertiliser company, OCP Africa  is partnering the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria  to distribute nutritionally-enhanced maize and promote collaboration and capacity building for scientists, researchers and technicians.

    The partnership will involve international and local experts seeking ways to increase climate resilience and productivity of maize and to strengthen maize-based cropping systems  across the country.

    OCP Africa has launched an agricultural intervention programme at ABU) tagged “Agribooster campus offer” targeted at 5,000 maize farmers within the university and its immediate environs.

    OCP Group, the Moroccan parent company of OCP Africa, is the world’s largest producer and exporter of phosphate and phosphate-based fertiliser. The multinational company drives the bilateral partnership between Nigeria and Morocco on the supply of phosphate to blending plants in several states across the country.

    As part of the launch, the Faculty of Agriculture of ABU nominated 15 of its postgraduate students to be trained and equipped by OCP Africa on agriculture extension skills to reach the targeted farmers, teaching those best practices in the application of various farm inputs to maximizs their yield in maize cultivation.

    The Country Manager OCP Africa, Mr. Caleb Usoh, said the “Agribooster Campus Offer”, the first of its kind in Nigerian universities, would provide the farmers with fertiliser, seeds, and agro-chemicals; funding through its project partner, ABU Microfinance Bank Limited; and training for the postgraduate extension workers who will, in turn, train the farmers.”

    According to Usoh, “We are very positive that this programme will significantly expand the yields of these farmers, based on the quality of the seeds and fertiliser we have brought in. The students who are going to become agri-promoters in the different villages where these 5,000 framers are operating will create awareness for them in the proper use of farm input. With this intervention by OCP Africa and its partners, the farmers will be able to get the right types of fertiliser and other critical input in sufficient quantities, and at the right time.”

    ABU’s Dean Faculty of Agriculture, Prof Olufunmilola Alabi, said: “We are happy that OCP Africa has chosen our school to begin the roll out of its Agribooster Campus Offer in Nigerian universities. The selected postgraduate students are being trained to become extension workers who will work with the farmers within our immediate environs. We expect that this intervention would increase the maize yield drastically for the farmers concerned, and it will translate into more money for them.”

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Kaduna State, and representative of the governor at the event, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kasim, expressed his optimism that the offer would be a powerful complement for transforming agriculture in the entire state. “We congratulate the company and its partners on putting together this intervention which wil,l ultimately, help our state to move agriculture away from subsistence levels and make it a more profitable business.”

    One of the ABU’s postgraduate extension workers, Mr. Elijah Ogunshola, said: “With the training, he has undergone both in the classroom as well as what he has now got from OCP Africa in the past six months, the yield of farmers under his watch would significantly increase. It is high time we brought our local farmers up to speed with modern practices, and by God’s grace, we will try our best to see that we put a smile on the farmers face, helping them to make farming a more profitable venture than what they are used to.”

    Earlier, Usoh, and  ABU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibrahim Garba,  signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deploy the offer for the school.

    Usoh said his company decided to launch the programme first in ABU because of its robust Faculty of Agriculture and access to extensive agricultural land within the university campus.

    He explained: “Many Nigerian universities have very robust agriculture faculties and they are also sitting on vast lands, so instead of keeping those lands fallow, we want to engage with these schools for farming. For instance, with the knowledge that the ABU Faculty of Agriculture imparts on its graduate and postgraduate students, coupled with well designed extension services, these students can combine their academics with practicals. In the process, we can spur their interest in agriculture as a business. Upon their graduation, they could then begin to see and take advantage of the great opportunities in agribusiness.”

    Prof Ibrahim Garba said the school would assist OCP Africa to achieve the goal of the Agribooster Campus Offer. According to him, “The university and its environs is a very well known agrarian environment. We therefore see what you are offering to us as a complement to what we are already doing under our ABU Microfinance Bank Limited and our Institute for Agriculture Research (IAR)”.

    Maize is an important food in Nigeria  and the main ingredient in several well-known national dishes. Examples are tuwon masara,pap and akamu. It’s also used as animal feed and as raw material for brewing beer and for producing starch.

     

     

  • Dangote donates 2,160-bed hostel to ABU

    AFRICA’S foremost businessman and Aliko Dangote Foundation Chairman Alhaji Aliko Dangote donated at the weekend a 2,160-bed space hostel complex to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State.

    The hostel, comprising 10 blocks of 360 rooms, built at  N1.2 billion, is coming after similar gestures to Bayero University, Kano and University of Ibadan, Ibadan, where the business mogul donated multi-billion naira business school complexes, respectively as part of his contribution to the education development in the country.

    The inauguration of the hall of residence coincided with ABU’s 41st convocation during which the varsity conferred on Dangote and the renowned Labour leader Hassan Sumonu, honourary Doctorate degrees.

    Also 15,787 graduating students were also awarded various degrees.

    The President of Dangote Group explained that he was moved to build the structure having realised that the students’ population at the universities have recorded significant increase without a corresponding growth in terms of infrastructure.

    He lamented that the situation has remained a subsisting and growing major challenge as public varsities grapple with under-funding.

    Dangote said: “Thus, I will like to use this opportunity to enjoin the Federal Government to consider allocating special funds to the universities to enable them to improve on research and upgrade their infrastructure. Such special intervention has become imperative given the perennial funding challenges facing our universities.”

    Dangote said the Federal Government alone could not shoulder the entire burden of funding tertiary education due to competing needs of other sectors that also demand priority attention. This is where Public Private Partnership (PPP) can and should come in to fill the gap.

    He then enjoined the private sector to adopt a new approach towards supporting the federal government in tackling the funding deficit in the higher institutions of learning.

    Dangote said: “I strongly believe the private sector must go beyond just the payment of the two per cent Education levy and be ready to join hands with the federal and governments in funding tertiary education. This will ensure that our institutions of higher learning are positioned to produce graduates who can transform this nation.

    “If there are two things that I am passionate about, they are education and entrepreneurship. I believe they go hand in hand. Some years ago, as Chairman of the National Committee on Job Creation, my committee strived to fashion out strategies for integrating entrepreneurship into our national educational curriculum, in line with what obtains in the Western world.”

    Expressing his gratitude on the award conferred on him, Dangote described ABU as “an institution famed for its incredibly thorough academic tradition, the quality of faculty, and the enriching experiences of life within its walls.

    “Today, the university has lived to its billing as a melting pot for ideologies by honouring a renowned socialist and champion of employees’ rights, Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu and Myself, for being a leading capitalist and investor in employment generating enterprises.

    ”It is also with a deep sense of fulfilment that today’s occasion is also being used for the commissioning of 10 blocks of student hostels which consists of 360 fully equipped rooms with capacity for housing 2160 students, built at a cost of N1.2 billion donated by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria.

    “Our intervention is designed to lessen the plight of students who suffer acute accommodation challenges within the campus. We have brought similar intervention to University of Ibadan (UI) and Bayero University Kano (BUK) amongst other institutions.”

    Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai, who opened the hostel, recommended Dangote’s philanthropic spirit to others for emulation.

    The governor, who is ABU’s alumnus, said both the government and the private sector can partner to lift the education sector in Nigeria pointing out that if not for the efforts of the university management, the institution was already dying.

    Vice Chancellor Prof Ibrahim Garba said the university is the largest in West Africa and described the Aliko Dangote hostel project as a “big relief,” saying lack of adequate accommodation is one of the nightmares of the university.

    Describing Dangote’s gesture as immeasurable, the vice chancellor said that of the 50,000 students of the university, the institution could hardly accommodate 10,000 and that the new hostel was the first addition after 40 years to the hostels built by the university.

    Praising the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Director Physical Planning and Municipal Services of the University, Muhammad Aminu Sambo, an engineer,  said: “This is a big relief because the university has limited accommodation in relation to the numbers of students admitted every year. This is one of our nightmares.”