The Department of Marketing was established on 30th July 2013, at the 233rd meeting of the Senate of the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. The Senate approved the creation of the department and the establishment of the Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The Department of Marketing is one of the newly created Departments in the University that commenced academic activity in the Faculty of Management Sciences in the 2013/2014 session. This year, the department is in the ninth (9th) academic session (2021/2022).
The Department of Marketing started with four academic staff and two non-academic staff but currently has thirty-four staff (thirty-one academic staff and three non-academic staff). One hundred and twenty-five (125) students enrolled for the B.Sc. Marketing Programme in 2013/2014 session. This number has increased to nine hundred and two (902) students in the 2021/2022 session. Our students offer courses in core marketing and other marketing-related subjects tailored to provide students with the required assortment of skills and knowledge. The pioneer Head of the Department was Dr. R. A. Gbadeyan (2013/2014 session – 2014/2015 session), while Dr. M. A. Aremu was the Head of the Department between 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 sessions. Dr. Y. I. Mustapha came on board as the head of the department between the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 sessions. Prof. R. A. Gbadeyan was also reappointed as head of department for the second term between 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 sessions. Dr. Y. I. Mustapha was appointed to serve a second term covering parts of the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 sessions. The current Head of department Dr. Mulikat Abdulraheem, began her tenure on August 1st 2023. In addition to the B.Sc. programme, the Senate of the University of Ilorin also approved Postgraduate programmes (M.Sc. & PhD in Marketing) for the department. These programmes commenced in the 2019/2020 academic session. The M.Sc. in Marketing is in the second academic year, while the PhD in Marketing is in its maiden academic session.
The department floated its journal in November 2014, christened: Ilorin Journal of Marketing (IJM). The aim and scope of the journal are to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the domain of marketing management and related discipline. It becomes a virtual knowledge grid for researchers, scholars, students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and innovators in marketing and management. The maiden edition of the journal was published in June 2015, and it is currently in its eighth volume, with the 2022 edition published in January 2022. Ilorin Journal of Marketing is online and can be accessed at this link http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/ejournals/index.php/ijm.
The department enjoyed the meaningful collaboration with professional bodies and industries. For instance, in November 2015 the department, in collaboration with the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), hosted the 2015 edition of the Marketing Students’ Conference in the zone with not less than seven participant institutions. Our students participated in the annual NIMN/UNILEVER Nigeria Plc. Best Marketing Student Award/Competition and took first and second positions, respectively, in the 2016 and 2017 editions of the competition