By Waziri Mahdi Isa
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria was today (Tuesday, 8th July, 2025) presented with a N500 million Mega Award by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The premier university clinched the monetary prize as the overall winner of the 5th 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 Hon 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 the Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede and other top staff members of the Board.
Two members of the Governing Council of Ahmadu Bello University – Prof Mato D Dogara and Dr Claris Ujah – were present at the historic occasion.
The Registrar, Ahmadu Bello University, Malam Rabiu Samaila, and the institution’s Admissions Officer, Malam Mohammed Aminu Garba, were in the company of the Vice-Chancellor.
Speaking at the occasion, the JAMB Registrar, Prof Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede,
said 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, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adamu 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.