The Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, formerly known as the University of Abuja (UniAbuja), on Saturday announced the appointment of Prof. Matthew Adamu as Vice-Chancellor in an acting capacity.
According to a statement by the university’s Acting Director of Press, Dr Habib Yakoob, Adamu will serve for a period of three months, effective from 11 August 2025.
The Acting Registrar of the institution, Roseline Adakayi, in the statement said, ‘Adamu succeeds Professor Patricia Manko Lar, who was appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor for a six-month tenure.
‘During her stewardship, Professor Lar provided purposeful leadership, fostered academic and administrative stability and, in concert with the relevant organs of the University, successfully initiated the selection process for the appointment of a substantive Vice-Chancellor’.
Adakayi noted that the new Acting Vice-Chancellor is tasked with supporting the Governing Council, led by Senator Olanrewaju Tejuoso, to conclude the ongoing process for appointing a substantive Vice-Chancellor in line with statutory provisions and guidelines.
She expressed the university community’s ‘sincere gratitude to Professor Lar for her dedicated service, visionary leadership, and unwavering commitment to excellence and institutional progress’.
The Acting Registrar wished Adamu a successful tenure as he ‘steers the university forward during this transition period’.
Adamu, a veterinary scholar, began his academic journey with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1998, followed by a Master of Science in 2006, both from the University of Maiduguri.
He later obtained his PhD in Veterinary Surgery from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2012.
Recognised for his outstanding contributions to the field, he became a Fellow of the College of Veterinary Surgeons of Nigeria and was promoted in 2019 to full professorship with specialisation in Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology (Helminthology).
With twenty-seven years of experience as a registered veterinarian, Adamu has developed a rich career spanning teaching, research, extension services, and both undergraduate and postgraduate supervision.
Having served as a Youth Corps Veterinarian and Corps Liaison Officer in Dan Musa, Katsina State, immediately after graduation, he practised privately in Minna, Niger State.
In early 2006, he moved to the Nigeria Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research in Kaduna before joining the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (now Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University) as a Lecturer II.
There, he rose through the ranks to become a full Professor in 2019.
