Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike

Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike is a federal university located in Umudike, Abia State in Nigeria.

The university, situated in Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria, was founded in 1992 as a specialized federal university of agriculture by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The Federal Universities of Agriculture Decree 1992 (Decree No. 48 of 1992) was the enabling legislation. This was an important step forward in expanding agricultural education and research in Nigeria. It was conceived a national agenda to  improve food security and productivity in agriculture. It was envisaged as a centre at which skilled men and women could be trained and where scientific research would continue to provide modern solutions to the agricultural issues that existed in fields of agriculture and related disciplines.

The first Governance Council was appointed and the first Vice-Chancellor, Professor Placid Njoku was also appointed, marking the commencement of the journey. The university commenced the academic part of its journey in May 1993 when students in the first intake of students were welcomed into the university. Less than a month after, the university was able to constitute a number of core faculties of the institution its recognised area of focus, appoint a number of academic and administrative staff of the type and calibre to support the totality or the university’s functions. This was a significant achievement considering that at the same time the university was still engaged in the governmental related to capital and recurrent funding for the operation of the university, but it did set the stage for growth for the institution. Subsequently, the transformation and programmes in the university commenced.