FUD begins Law, Pharmaceutical Sciences, establishes 45 programmes in 13 years – VC

The Federal University Dutse (FUD) in Jigawa State has increased its academic programmes from five at its inception in the 2011/2012 academic session to 45 in 2025.

This was disclosed by the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Abdulkarim Sabo Muhammad, during a pre-convocation press briefing held at the institution’s Senate Building.

He stated, “The academic programmes in FUD have grown from five in 2011/2012 to 45 in 2025, and student enrollment has increased from 202 to 18,000 today.”

Professor Muhammad also revealed that the university will hold its 8th and 9th combined convocation on the 5th of this month, during which 4,277 graduates will be awarded degrees.

According to him, the 8th and 9th Combined Convocation Lecture will be delivered by the pioneer Vice Chancellor of FUD, Professor Jibrilla Dahiru Amin, OFR. The topic of the lecture is “Harnessing Research and Innovation for Sustainable Development in Nigeria: The Role of Higher Education Institutions.”

He further stated, “A total of 209 graduates will be awarded first class degrees at the forthcoming combined convocation. The breakdown of the graduands shows that 1,271 obtained Second Class Upper Division, 2,034 earned Second Class Lower Division, and about 559 graduates obtained Third Class degrees.”

Professor Abdulkarim announced that plans are underway to establish the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, while the Faculty of Law building has been completed and students will be admitted into the faculty in the next academic session.

He disclosed that in the past four years, FUD has attracted over N800 million in research grants. This includes a N113 million Google Artificial Intelligence Lab established at the university—the first of its kind among higher institutions in the Northwest geo-political zone.

The VC highlighted a major achievement of his administration: the N1.2 billion internet broadband facility project by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy. This project has provided free Wi-Fi services across the university, significantly enhancing teaching and research for both academic staff and students.

He added, “The university recently signed an MoU with the Federal Ministry of Education and the Rural Electrification Agency to build a 1.6-megawatt state-of-the-art solar grid, which will ensure that our campus is powered by solar energy.”

Completed infrastructure projects at FUD include the new Senate Building, Faculty of Law Building, New Library, twin 250-capacity lecture theatres, STEM classrooms, and two female hostels, among others.

The Vice Chancellor expressed his profound gratitude to journalists in Jigawa State and beyond for their support and cooperation.

He also thanked the university staff for their unwavering support, without which the institution’s modest achievements would not have been possible.