Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a federal research university at Samaru, Zaria, Kaduna State, in northern Nigeria. It opened on 4 October 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria and is named after Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and first premier of the Northern Region. It is one of Nigeria's largest universities, recruiting students and staff from every state of the federation, and has a land area of about 7,000 hectares.

The university has two main teaching sites in Zaria. The Samaru main campus houses the administrative offices and most faculties, while the Kongo campus, in the Tudun Wada area, hosts the Faculties of Law and Administration. The School of Basic and Remedial Studies has a campus at Funtua, and the Division of Agricultural Colleges runs three colleges of agriculture. Samaru is close to the ABU Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), one of the largest teaching hospitals in Nigeria.

There are 18 faculties: Management Sciences, Administration, Agriculture, Allied Health Sciences, Arts, Basic Clinical Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences, Dental Surgery, Clinical Sciences, Education, Engineering, Environmental Design, Law, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Pharmacy, Social Sciences and Veterinary Medicine. Alongside them are the Business School, the College of Medicine, the Division of Agricultural Colleges, the School of Basic and Remedial Studies and the Postgraduate College. The university has 110 departments, and offers diploma, undergraduate, long vacation training, postgraduate (PGD, MSc, MPhil, PhD) and distance learning programmes.

Current enrolment is 43,319 undergraduate students, 7,774 postgraduate students and 3,889 long vacation training students, taught by 2,939 academic staff including 641 professors. The university reports more than 500,000 alumni.

Research is organised through 16 research institutes, 13 research centres and 33 centres overall, coordinated by the Directorate of Research and Innovation. Student support includes a Counselling and Human Development Centre offering career guidance, personal and academic counselling, and a Students Support Associates programme. Student life is residential and includes arts and culture activities and sport such as football and basketball.

ABU has a Green Campus sustainability programme including tree planting aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and about 27 tertiary institutions, including colleges of education and polytechnics, are affiliated to it.