664 pioneer students of the Benue State University of Agriculture, Science and Technology (UAST), Ihugh, were matriculated on Thursday, June 18, for various degree programmes.
In 2025, the National Universities Commission (NUC) approved the establishment of UAST after the Benue State Assembly passed a bill establishing the university.
The university, according to the Governor of Benue State and Visitor, Fr. Hyacinth Alia, was conceived as a deliberate intervention to build a globally competitive centre of learning capable of transforming agriculture, science, technology, and economic development in Benue State.
Fr. Alia, who asserted that the future belongs to young people who can turn ideas into opportunities, stressed that the university was established to equip students with modern technical skills, innovation-driven knowledge and practical competencies to sustain Benue’s position as the Food Basket of the Nation.
The governor charged the students to see themselves as the foundation and living culture of the institution by upholding discipline, excellence, integrity, and purposeful learning.


