History of Alex Ekwueme Federal University
Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, formerly Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI) was established by the Federal Government on February 26th, 2011 with the goal of expanding and improving access to quality tertiary education to every part of Nigeria. It however, started academic activities on 5th November, 2012, and was officially renamed by the Federal Government after the late civilian Vice President of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme on 2nd February, 2018.
Geographically located on latitude 060 8.29’ N, Longitude 080 8.627’E and Altitude 55m (AMSL), AE-FUNAI is sited in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State which is about 25 kilometers from Abakaliki, the State capital. Ikwo is bounded in the north by Abakaliki and Ezza South Local Government Areas and in the south by the Cross River State.
The University sits on a landmass of 438 hectares of land surveyed and handed over to the University authorities by the Ebonyi State Government. This provides the University with the platform to engage with the drivers of development so that an appropriate programme and research mix can be formulated to meet the needs of the state, geopolitical zone and country.
The University prides itself as the ‘Home of Soaring Eagles’ that offers students excellent learning opportunities, informed by up-to-date research and facilitated by highly qualified and motivated workforce, with multi-media class rooms, well stocked modern libraries and well equipped laboratories for practical sessions in a serene learning environment.
It aspires to be a world-class University recognized for the delivery of intellectually rigorous, cutting edge research and excellent teaching and learning experience, geared towards the production of graduates with the relevant hands-on, sellable and employability skills to soar in their chosen careers. Students are offered a wealth of academic choices together with articulation and mobility across the qualifications spectrum ranging from certificates to diplomas and degrees.
The University’s 11 Faculties offer high quality academic programmes in the Agriculture, Basic Medical Sciences, Biological Science, Education, Engineering and Technology, Environmental Science, Humanities, Management Sciences, Social Sciences and Physical Sciences that meet national and international academic best practices and the demands of the 21st century economy. It also has 41 academic departments and 57 programmes, with over 10, 000 and 2, 230 students and staff population respectively. The university has also established a College of Medicine and a School of Postgraduate Studies to expand the frontiers of knowledge.
Excellence, integrity and entrepreneurship development are at the core of our academic philosophy and we integrate it in the delivery of our academic programmes in order to produce ‘soaring eagles’ that can excel in any sector of the globalized economy. The philosophy is guided by the need to raise solution-providers through the production of highly skilled and self-motivated as well as enterprising graduates.
In AE-FUNAI, the academic environment is an avenue for aggregating lateral thinking, where staff and students, through innovation and creativity, are doing things in different ways and in new ways, developing new ideas and concepts, and breaking boundaries and frontiers that are holding the nation down.
