NIGERIA Invest in 2012-13 - Newsdesk Media

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria (1962-2012)
The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU)
Zaria was established on 4 October 1962.
It will, therefore, celebrate its Golden Jubilee in
October 2012, and the preparations for this
occasion are well under way.
With a student population of more than
30,000, ABU is easily the largest university
in sub-Saharan Africa.
From its foundation, the University has had
a clearly defined vision and mission, which is
set out as follows:
(i) Vision: it shall be a world-class centre of
learning and research that is responsive
to the needs of its immediate community,
nation and the world at large;
(ii) Mission: to advance the frontiers of
learning and break new ground through
Shika Brown® broilers: the result of years of research
National Animal Production Research
Institute (NAPRI), ABU, Zaria
This is the only Institute in Nigeria that is
charged with improving the productivity of
all livestock (such as cattle, sheep, goats,
pigs, poultry, rabbits, camels, donkeys etc)
through breeding/genetics, nutrition and the
socioeconomics of production.
Many years of breeding/selection have
resulted in an egg-laying strain of chicken
registered as Shika Brown® to produce parent
stock for commercial hatcheries. Similar work
is ongoing to develop the broiler strain.
Dairy technologies and innovations in
artificial insemination, breeding/selection and
nutrition have produced crossbreeds to increase
the milk production of farmers’ herds.
Research into sheep and goat production
has led to the establishment of sheep and goat
teaching, research and the dissemination
of knowledge of the highest quality.
To live up to its mandate, the Ahmadu
Bello University has, over the years, established
12 faculties, nine research institutes and centres
and three agricultural colleges. All these
institutions are now ICT-compliant.
The expansive university is coordinated
and operated through a multi-campus system,
which takes care of the needs and comfort of
students, lecturers and administrators.
The effectiveness of this strategy is
manifested in the output of most of the
academic and research units of the university.
We will illustrate this development with respect
to only a few of the units, as outlined here.
pilot projects in the six agro-ecological zones of
the country for easier access to the technologies
and innovations by farmers.
Improved technologies in the techniques
of forage production and utilisation by animals
complements other disciplines in improving
productivity in livestock.
The Institute collaborates with other
national research institutes and international
research and development organizations – such
as the IAEA, IDRC, ILRI and IITA – to carry
out its mandates and achieve its goals.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
ABU, Zaria
The Faculty is charged with the task of
producing high-quality pharmacists for
the manpower needs of the nation and
also conducting advanced research in
pharmaceutical sciences. The stature of the
faculty research team has grown remarkably
and two areas are now excelling: herbal
medicine research, with the potential to screen
thousands of medicinal plants for bioactive
compounds – a herbal preparation, Herbal 25,
for the management of malaria is one of the
successes in this area; and neuropharmacology
– the Faculty is an Academic Institutional
member (AIM) of the International
Pharmaceutical Federation.
Institute for Agricultural Research
(IAR), ABU, Zaria
The Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR),
Samaru, has been the bedrock of crop research
in the Savanna region of Nigeria since 1922.
Sir Ahmadu Bello KBE MHA, Sardauna of Sokoto,
first Chancellor of the University
The mission of IAR is to generate, disseminate
and impart improved agricultural technologies
for enhanced crop production and utilisation
to achieve national self-reliance in food and
industrial raw materials, with sufficient
surplus for export.
The IAR’s mandate is to conduct research
and provide, among others, the following
services to agriculture:
(a) Genetic improvement of cowpea, cotton,
groundnut, maize, sorghum, castor,
jatropha, artemisia and sunflower;
(b) Proffer solutions to the problems of
production of all agricultural food
crops grown in the north-west agroecological
zone covering Jigawa,
Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto
and Zamfara states. The problems
include genetic, socioeconomic,
agronomic, soil and water management,
mechanisation etc.
Significant progress has been made in the
development and release of high-yielding,
disease- and pest-resistant, drought-tolerant
varieties of crops that are acceptable to
farmers, processors and consumers.
Several of the IAR’s most recent
achievements are in the field of research
outputs, including:
(a) Cultural operations technologies
Over the years, IAR has introduced,
bred, tested, selected and formally released
for production numerous improved crop
varieties, alongside their appropriate
production packages, pest, disease and