By Abdallah el-Kurebe
ASHENEWS reports that the Institute for Agricultural Research of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (IAR-ABU), will, beginning from October 3, 2023 celebrate its 100 years of existence.
According to the chain of activities lined up for the commemoration of the institute’s 100 years-anniversary, is the Opening Day billed to hold on Tuesday, 3rd October, 2023.
But for the long industrial dispute arising from eight-month-old strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), one of the foremost agricultural research centers in Nigeria, was to celebrate the centenary anniversary in 2022, having been established in 1922.
The institute, which was known at inception as an Agricultural Station as well as Administrative Headquarters of the then Northern Region of Nigeria’s Department of Agriculture, was primarily established to provide training courses for staff in the Agriculture Department, and later the North’s Regional Ministry of Agriculture.
IAR was formally transferred by Law to the later established Ahmadu Bello University on 14th October, 1962; and when the University was eventually taken over by the Federal Government in 1975, IAR was affiliated in accordance with Statue 14 of the University.
The institute’s research landscape was restricted by removal of some crops under its purview in 1987 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development following the reorganization of the national agricultural research institutions.
The programme
The Open Day entails field visits to farms, screen houses, and laboratories, as well as exhibitions to showcase the numerous achievements of the agricultural research center.
Also, a centenary public lecture will hold on Wednesday, 4th October, 2023.
The lecture, ‘Agricultural Research, Technology and Innovation as Catalyst for National Development: Impact on Poverty, Food and Economic Security of Nigeria in the 21st Century’, will be delivered by the Secretary to the Government of Borno State and former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Bukar Tijjani.
Flagging off the centenary celebrations at the IAR premises with the planting of some species of trees, the Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Kabiru Bala, congratulated the institute on clocking 100 years as a formidable research center providing numerous agricultural services in Nigeria and beyond.
The Vice-Chancellor described ABU’s agricultural complex as huge and unique, stressing that he had never seen its type anywhere in the world.
Prof. Bala commended scientists and researchers of the institute for the many research activities being carried out at the institute, urging that research findings by the institute should be made available to the public as part of the community service for the overall development of the society.
The Vice-Chancellor planted a tamarind tree at the occasion to symbolize longevity as the tree could live for 1,000 years in commemoration of the historic event.
Earlier in his address of welcome, the Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Prof. Muhammad Faguji Ishiyaku, gave an insight into the historical background of the institute, saying that the agricultural research center was established in 1922, first as an agricultural station.
He said that IAR had over the years made tremendous achievements in the area of agricultural development in Nigeria, stressing that the institute had a long-standing history of providing quality assessment of most imported agricultural products, especially fertilizer, into the country.
