Igbinedion University

Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO) is the first private university in Nigeria, established in 1999. The University is located at Okada, headquarters of Ovia North-East Local Government Area, Edo state. The university was founded by Sir Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion CFR, a billionaire, philanthropist and a prominent Benin Chief.

Both the graduate and undergraduate programmes of the University are accredited by the National Universities Commission and the relevant professional bodies. The university has seven Colleges namely: College of Law, College of Health Sciences, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, College of Business and Management Studies, College of Pharmacy, College of Engineering and College of Arts and Social Sciences. It also has an enrolment of over 5000 students across the seven colleges. The University was headed by the Vice Chancellor, Rev. Professor Eghosa Osaghae till June 2019, Prof. Lawrence Ezemwonye assumed the office of the Vice-Chancellor. Rev. Prof Osaghae was the university's first Vice Chancellor, and hence Prof. Ezemwonye became the third vice chancellor in the university's 20 years of existence

The University has recorded several landmark achievements including being the first Private University to produce medical doctors in Sub-Saharan Africa and producing the first private university graduate in 2006 to bag a first class at the highly competitive Nigeria Law School.

Igbinedion University, Okada is devoted to developing and strengthening the academic programmes offered in the various colleges to meet international standards and preparing them for accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the federal agency that has responsibility for quality assurance and maintenance of standards, and the relevant national regulatory professional bodies. The latter bodies include the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN (Medicine), Council of Legal Education (Law), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN (Engineering), Computer Professional Council of Nigeria (Computer Science), and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN (Accounting). The accreditation of all the programmes including medicine, law, engineering and accounting by these bodies confirms the high quality of academic programme offered by the university. Also, more than 60% of its first degree graduands yearly proceed for postgraduate studies abroad with high success rate and commendation according to its Vice Chancellor during the institution's convocation ceremony in November, 2013.

Quite early in its life, and in line with its vision of being an internationally competitive university, IUO identified external linkages and networking with (older and mentoring-capable) universities and development partners as strategic to the realization of its goals. By March 2007, the university had established linkages with the University of Westminster (UK) in the areas of staff development, diplomatic studies and ICT and Howard University, USA (telemedicine and teleconferencing), and was finalizing an exchange programme with East Carolina University (USA) in the area of global development. The university was admitted into full membership of the Global University Network for Innovation, GUNI, based in Barcelona, Spain, the European Association for International Education, EAIE, and the Network Towards Unity for Health (Maastricht, the Netherlands) amongst other external affiliations. It was also part of the Consortium of Development Partnerships, CDP, a conglomerate of universities, research institutions, governments and development partners in North America, Europe and West Africa. IUO’s Centre for Presidential Studies coordinated and continues to coordinate Module 8 of the CDP’s project on Local Contexts of Conflict and Peace-building in West Africa that involves researchers from Ghana, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, the Netherlands and Nigeria.

Colleges
There are seven (7) Colleges, each of which has its own College Library. The Colleges are as follows:


 * College of Arts & Social Sciences(CASS)
 * Sanusi Lamido Sanusi College of Business & Management Studies(CBM )
 * Abdul Salaam Abubakar College of Engineering
 * Oba Okunade Sijuade College of Health Sciences(Medical & Health allied courses) which has two schools: SBMS(School of Basic Medical sciences) & SCM(School of Clinical Medicine)
 * Oba Erediauwa College of Law
 * College of Natural & Applied Sciences
 * Dora Akunyili College of Pharmacy

Reputation
The University has produced over 10,000 graduates in various undergraduate and postgraduate courses since its inception in 1999 working at reputable firms within and outside Nigeria. It has also secured funding from various individuals and bodies like the Central Bank of Nigeria, which funded the construction of an ultra modern library for the school and Air Marshall Paul Dike, former Chief of Air Staff who donated a complex.

Notable alumni

 * Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo,. Governor Gombe State.
 * Kingsley Kuku Former National Adviser, Niger Delta Affairs.
 * Dr. Damilola Sunday Olawuyi, Vice President, Nigerian Branch of the International Law Association