University music education is a recent phenomenon in Nigeria. The founding of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with autonomy to grant degrees for courses in nearly all fields of study, enabled it to initiate music degree along the lines of the Euro-American university music education in 1961. This article, relying on historical analysis with historical evidence derived from primary and secondary documents, delineates some cultural, philosophical, political, social, and economic forces that have shaped the development of university music education in Nigeria before and after its establishment. It finds out that significant changes in university music education in Nigeria are being negotiated with national policies, accrediting agencies, certification requirements, and curriculum mandates. It proffers solutions to some of its ongoing problems by calling for a university music education in which music conferences and festivals are combined with creative and productive music teaching and learning, and where participants' observation is emphasized.