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Introduction [Top]

C ITS

Founded in 1962, the University of Lagos has, for over 5 decades, provided qualitative and research-oriented education to
Nigerians and all those who have entered its domain in search of knowledge. At its inception, the University of Lagos was
empowered to produce a professional workforce that would steer the political, social and economic development of a newly
independent country. Over the last fifty years the University has pursued this mission with vigour, excellence and panache. The
University has built a legacy of academic excellence and is now acclaimed publicly as the University of First C hoice and the

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Nations Pride.
Origins [Top]
The establishment of the University of Lagos in 1962 was informed by the need to intensify the training of a professional
workforce for a newly independent Nigeria in search of rapid industrialisation and economic development. It was however quite

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evident that the country lacked the requisite workforce to actualise the peoples dream. There was a big gulf to be filled, and that

R e se arch

required establishing many more universities.

R e turning Stude nts

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R e turning Stude nts

Towards this end, the Federal Government established the Eric Ashby Commission on Post School Certificate and Higher
Education in Nigeria in May 1959. The Ashby C ommissions report, titled Investment in Education, recommended the
establishment of a new university in Lagos, the then Federal C apital, to offer day and evening courses in C ommerce, Business
Administration, Economics and Higher Management Studies. In 1961, the Federal Government assigned the detailed planning of
the new university to a UNESC O Advisory C ommission. However, whereas the Ashby C ommission had envisaged a nonresidential institution which would be cited in the business district of C entral Lagos, the UNESC O C ommission opted for a
traditional university, a complete all encompassing institution with residential accommodation on a large campus. Following the
acceptance of the UNESC O C ommissions report, the University of Lagos was established on 22nd October 1962 on the authority
of the University of Lagos Act of 1962.
The Act provided for an eleven-member Provisional C ouncil for the University, a Senate to preside over academic affairs, and a
separate C ouncil for the Medical School located at the University Teaching Hospital at Idi-Araba, a few kilometres away from the
main (Akoka) campus. This was rather unique for, by authority of the Act, the University consisted of two separate institutions
the main university and an autonomous Medical School. The link between the two institutions was tenuous at best, consisting of
reciprocal representation on both C ouncils and membership in the University Senate by professors in the Medical School.

Development of Faculties [ Top ]

The University began with three faculties: C ommerce and Business Administration, Law and Medicine. At its first meeting the
Board of the Faculty of C ommerce and Business Administration changed the name to the Faculty of Business and Social Studies.
The faculties of Arts, Education, Engineering and Science were added in 1964.
For the first academic session, 1962/1963, the University admitted 46 students for the Faculty of C ommerce and Business
Administration and 26 for the Faculty of Law. These students received their first lectures on 22 October 1962 at the temporary
site in a secondary school at Idi-Araba, adjacent to the Medical School and the Teaching Hospital. 28 medical students had
already commenced lectures three weeks earlier on 3 October, 1962. The University moved from its temporary location in IdiAraba to the Akoka main campus in September 1965. The direction of the Universitys future development was consolidated with
the promulgation of the University of Lagos Decree in 1967 (Decree No. 3 of 1967). The new constitution created an integrated
and more structurally coherent institution by establishing a single C ouncil for the whole university. The previous arrangement
had two separate C ouncils, one for the University and the other for the Medical School.
With the new Act the Medical School ceased to exist as a separate institution and became an integral part of the University of
Lagos subject to the full authority of Senate. However, to ensure a measure of autonomy necessary for the smooth discharge of
the responsibilities of some specialised units the university adopted the collegiate system under which the Medical School now
became the C ollege of Medicine of the University of Lagos. The Faculty of Business and Social Studies was divided into the
School of Administration and the School of Social Studies. The Federal Advanced Teachers C ollege was integrated into the
university as the C ollege of Education. The Institute of C omputer Sciences and the Institute of Mass C ommunication were
founded in 1967 and became teaching units a year later. The Institute of C hild Health joined the University in 1969.
By the beginning of the 1970s, the University had developed an unwieldy and confusing academic structure in which the faculty
system operated alongside the school and the collegiate systems. Law and Engineering were faculties; Education and Medicine
were

colleges,

while

Biological Sciences,

Mathematical and

Physical Sciences,

Environmental Design, Social Studies,

Administration, Humanities, and African Studies were schools. On 28 June 1973, Senate finally adopted the faculty system for
the whole University, conceding the collegiate system only to the C ollege of Medicine. The re-designation of the C ollege of
Education required a constitutional amendment and following the promulgation of the University of Lagos (Amendment) Decree,

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1975, it also became the Faculty of Education. The unwieldy system was transformed into the following faculties: Arts, Business
Administration, Education, Environmental Design, Science and Social Sciences. The C ollege of Medicine retained both its name
and its autonomy.
The School of Postgraduate Studies, whose dramatic growth has attracted the sobriquet, the Lagoon Lighthouse, was
established on 22 July 1981. In 1984, Federal University of Technology, Abeokuta (FUTAB) was merged with the University of
Lagos.
The University currently has a School of Postgraduate Studies, a Distance Learning Institute (DLI) and twelve faculties, namely:
Arts
Basic Medical Sciences
Business Administration
C linical Sciences
Dental Sciences
Education
Engineering
Environmental Sciences
Law
Pharmacy
Science
Social Sciences

Physical Growth and Expansion [ Top ]

The first phase of infrastructural development at the main (Akoka) campus was completed in 1965. It consisted of two academic
areas called Academic Group North and Academic Group South, the Dinning Hall, Library, Administrative Block, the C entral
C oncourse, staff quarters and students hostels. Subsequent developments have added academic buildings including those of
Arts, Advanced Legal Studies, C hemical Engineering, Mass C ommunication, and Science; service facilities such as the
Auditorium, the C onference C entre and Guest Houses, the Health C entre, the Sports C entre, the Unilag C onsult C omplex, a
walkway linking the Faculty of Science with the Faculty of Engineering, a massive water reservoir near the Department of Mass
C ommunication; boreholes in the service area of the main campus; Junior Staff quarters, Phase I, along Lawani Road, off
University Road, Abule-Oja; and additional hostels for male and female students.
The Hydraulic Research Laboratory was also constructed with a grant from the Government of the Netherlands and a donation of
N30,000.00 from the Nigerian Ports Authority. The University of Lagos International School was established in 1981. It relocated
to its permanent site in October 1985. The Senate House C omplex was completed in 1984. The University also established
autonomous commercial outfits as a means to generating additional revenue. Foremost among these are Unilag C onsult and
Unilag Ventures.

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