Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. has received a N500 million Mega Award from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The premier university clinched the monetary prize as the overall winner of the fifth edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit Awards (NATAP-M) for the combined admission years 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.
ABU became the overall winner having emerged as the ‘best institution with an aggregate of 14 points in the overall category comprising all five elements of the Mega Award’.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmed, presented a N500 million cheque and a certificate of award to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adamu Ahmed.
The Minister was assisted in the presentation by JAMB Registrar, Profe. Is-haq Oloyede and other top staff members of the Board.
Two members of the Governing Council of the university — Prof. Mato D Dogara and Dr. Claris Ujah — were present at the historic occasion.
The Registrar, Malam Rabiu Samaila, and the institution’s Admissions Officer, Malam Mohammed Aminu Garba, were in the company of the Vice-Chancellor.
Oloyede said that the award was introduced to encourage national spread in the admission of candidates and promote internationalisation of tertiary institutions.
He also said the award was essentially to bring about national unity through institutions admitting candidates from all states of the federation, as well as create healthy competitions among the tertiary institutions.
The JAMB Registrar further said it was to bring about transparency in the admission process across the nation, and bridge the gap in gender inequality by encouraging the female gender to aspire for tertiary education.
Receiving the award, Ahmed thanked JAMB most sincerely for the honour, saying that they would continue to do the needful to ensure that the Nigerian universities rise in the university rankings globally.
The Vice-Chancellor also expressed gratitude to the institution’s Governing Council, Senate, and alumni for pushing the university so high to achieve the great feat.
