The University's catchment area of north-east Nigeria, just like the neighbouring provinces of the north of Cameroun, is home to a large livestock population. Indeed, Borno State (where the University is located) is reckoned to have 33% of the national herd in Nigeria. The strategic importance of livestock underscores the need for persons trained in the healing, prevention and control of diseases in animals, as well as in animal production. This has been the mandate of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine since 1982 when the first set of students were enrolled.

Over a six-year period, students are exposed to preclinical, paraclinical and clinical courses, culminating in the award of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. There are seven Departments in the Faculty, namely, Veterinary Anatomy, Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Veterinary Pathology, Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, Veterinary Surgery and Reproduction, Veterinary Medicine, and Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Practical training and research is carried out in a number of complementary facilities, such as the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, specialised laboratories (such as the one for virology), abbatoirs, and so on.

Students in the Faculty are regularly heard saying that it takes a level of intelligence higher than the average endowment for one to be a Vet because the Vet's patients do not speak. For whatever it is worth, the claim serves to underscore the rigor of the training students receive.

The following programmes are run by the Faculty:

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)

Master's in Veterinary Science (M.V.Sc.) in:
Anatomy
Medicine
Parasitology
Microbiology
Pathology
Surgery and Reproduction

Ph.D in:
Medicine
Microbiology
Pathology
postgraduate Diploma in Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology