University of Calabar grew out of the Calabar campus of University of Nigeria (UNN), Nigeria which began functioning during the 1973 academic session with 154 students and a small cadre of academic, administration and professional staff. In April 1975, the Federal Military Government of Nigeria announced that as part of the National Development Plan, seven new Universities were to be established at various locations in the country. The University of Calabar was one of the seven Universities set up under this programme.