Motto: A Key to Academic Success

Brief Histroy: Ahmadu Bello College, named for Premier of Northern Nigeria Ahmadu Bello, was founded in January 1960 in Kano as part of the School for Arabic Studies. When Ahmadu Bello University was founded in Zaria, Kaduna State, Ahmadu Bello College was renamed to Abdullahi Bayero College, after Abdullahi Bayero, Emir of Kano (ruled 1927 to 1953). Starting January 1964 the college was situated at the Kano Airport Hotel, a location it remained at until March 1968, when it moved to western Kano to make way for a military hospital (the Nigerian Civil War having started the previous year). The first students began their studies in February 1964, and they graduated in July 1966. Starting in 1966, the institution served as the Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies of Ahmadu Bello University. In 1975, the college became a university college, and was renamed Bayero University College, with Mahmud Tukur as principal. In 1977, the status was again changed, to that of university, and Bayero University became the name; Tukur became Vice-Chancellor. In 1980 the university ceased functioning as a faculty of its Zaria counterpart.