Why it is on record
Founded by Rev. Fr. Prof. Emmanuel M.P. Edeh (Spiritan/CSSp), Madonna at Okija (Anambra) was the first Catholic-owned private university in Nigeria and the first Nigerian private university to be licensed (joint, 10 May 1999). Operates three campuses — Okija, Elele (Rivers), Akpugo (Enugu).
Record held
First Catholic-owned private university in Nigeria (joint first private licence, 10 May 1999); first private university to run a full College of Medicine in the South-East.
Deep dive
Madonna University Nigeria, founded in 1999 by Rev. Fr. Edeh Emmanuel Mbaka Ofor, was the first private Catholic university licensed by the NUC. Its founding alongside Igbinedion and Babcock in the 1999 cohort marks the structural opening of Nigerian higher education to private religious-affiliated institutions in the Fourth Republic.