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The establishment of Universities of Agriculture came into effect on l January 1988 following a demerger process that resulted in simultaneous coming on stream of the two Universities of Agriculture located in Makurdi in Benue State, and Abeokuta in Ogun State. A third one located in Umudike in Abia State was established in 1992. The Federal Government of Nigeria had by the end of 1983 established seven new Universities of Technology, four of which were rationalized in 1984 by merging them with, and as campuses of bigger and more established Universities as a cost saving measure. Following the initiatives and reports of the National Universities Commission (NUC) on the establishment of Universities of Agriculture, the government carefully reviewed the situation against the background of the success stories of Agricultural Universities worldwide and decided to opt for converting the two campuses at Makurdi and Abeokuta into full fledged specialized Universities of Agriculture.

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