List of Nigerian Universities Catchment Areas

Candidates seeking admission into higher institutions of learning always wished they could lay hands on information about Nigerian Universities’ Catchment Areas for their chosen schools. The reason is that some institutions set lower admission cut-off marks for some states than they do for others. This article contains a list of Nigerian Universities and their catchment areas.

Reasons For Catchment Areas in Admission

In human geography, Wikipedia defined a catchment area as an area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers. For example, a school catchment area is a geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school. Bringing this down to Nigeria, most federal schools respect the fact that some states are educationally less developed than others.

Nigeria’s higher education admission entrance selection criteria have, therefore, been fashioned in a way that favours students from some ‘newer’ states. For this reason, an applicant from Ebonyi who obtained the same score admission into (say, UNN) as a candidate from Imo may be granted admission at the expense of that from Imo. This trend is also reflected in Federal Characters and Staffing during employment.

In the case of state universities, catchment areas are set to favour candidates from the university’s host state. This is why an Imolite candidate may be admitted into IMSU (for instance) with a score of 200 may be admitted, while someone from Abia with a score of 220 will not be considered for the same course.

Let’s get to the point to acquaint you with universities and their catchment areas. This information is vital as you strive to gain admission into Federal Institutions this year.

List of Nigerian Universities Catchment Areas

• University of Benin (UNIBEN): Edo Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Rivers
• University of Calabar (UNICAL): Cross-Rivers Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Rivers
• University of Jos (UNIJOS): Plateau Benue, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plareau
• University of Lagos (UNILAG): Lagos Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun
• University of Ilorin (UNILORIN): Ilorin Benue, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Plareau, Sokoto, Zamfara
• University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID): Borno Adamawa, Borno. Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe
• University of Uyo (UNIUYO): Akwa-Ibom Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Rivers
• Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK): Anambra, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo
• Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria: Kaduna Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Taraba
• Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU): Bauchi Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe
• Bayero University Kano (BUK): Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara
• Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA): Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ondo
• The Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMinna): Minna Niger, Benue, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Zamfara
• The Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO): Imo Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Enugu
• Federal University of Technology, Yola (FUTYola), now Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola (MAUTECH): Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe
• Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ife: Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, Oyo, Ondo
• Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUSOK): Sokoto Jigawa, Kwara, Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara
• The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN): Enugu Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Rivers

The Difference Between Educationally Less Developed States, Merit, and Catchment Areas

In this section, we will explore the difference between Educationally Less Developed States, Merit, and Catchment areas. These terms are concerned with the allocation of admission spaces for new candidates in our polytechnics, universities, and colleges of education.

If you have been applying for admission for some time, you will definitely bump into these terms. If this is something you are unfamiliar with, we will get to the basics of it all.

Merit Admission List

The merit admission list is an admission term that denotes that the candidate is based on merit, which implies that the candidate’s scores meet or are above the departmental cut-off marks. In this case, admission is said to be “certain”.

This category is normally 45% of the whole admission list. This is in line with the policy of the Jamb and the Federal Government.

Catchment Areas

Some universities give priority to neighbouring states and the state in which they are located. This is known as “admission by catchment area”.

Hence, they allocate indigenes from these states with more slots than merit departmental cut-off marks. This category makes up 35% of the overall admission list.

Educationally Less Developed States

In less educated states or educationally less privileged states, this is the class of candidates from states of the country that are categorized as those who are not highly educated and, therefore, ought to be encouraged.

Meanwhile, the federal government has urged schools to reduce their requirements for candidates from these states so as to make room for them. This category takes up 20% of the total admission list.