The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has made the first position among Nigerian universities and 401-500th out of over 1,799 institutions across the world.
The positions are contained in the 2023 Times Higher Education World University Rankings released on October 12, 2022.
UNILAG is sharing the first spot with the University of Ibadan (UI), which is also ranked 401-500th in the world.
Covenant University is placed third in the 601 to 800 band while Bayero University in Kano (BUK) and Federal University in Akure are in the 1,001 to 1,200 band.
In the 1,201 to 1,500 band are University of Ilorin; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and Obafemi Awolowo University.
The three universities in the 1500+ category are Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta; Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
In total, Nigeria had 12 universities on the 2023 global rankings.
The top five universities in the 2023 world rankings are Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford, and MIT.
Chairman of the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee (NURAC), Prof. Emeritus Peter Okebukola, in a statement at the end of the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit in New York, the United States of America (U.S.A), said in the last 12 months, NURAC had been working with all universities and building capacities to ensure the actualisation of this mandate.
The statement said: “Nigeria was singled out and publicly announced at the summit by the management of Times Higher Education World University Rankings as having made one of the most significant improvements in ranking within a year.
From five universities in the top band in 2022 to 12 universities within a year is a remarkable feat.
“There are over 30,000 universities in the world today and about 1,799 were ranked by Times Higher Education after meeting the ranking criteria.”
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The statement explained that institutions that applied for the rankings were assessed on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measured an institution’s performance across four areas of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
Okebukola, a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), noted that across Nigeria, physical sciences were the most frequently ranked subjects.
“In the 2023 ranking, Nigeria had better scores in the international co-authorship metric but had low scores in international students, international staff, industry income, doctorates/staff, research reputation and teaching reputation.
“Between 2019 and 2023, the citation score for Nigeria increased by an average of 30. Conversely, the industry score decreased by an average of 2.5,” the statement said.
Okebukola said 45 Nigerian universities, among the highest in the world, are in the reporter category for the 2023 ranking, adding that with a little nudge, they would be eligible for inclusion in the elite league tables.
The statement added: “A new dimension is being introduced to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. This will involve some new metrics and normalisation procedures.
“I am quite hopeful that Nigerian universities will not lose their winning streak and will do excellently well on WUR 3.0, which will come into effect from 2024. The Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, has assured NURAC that government will continue to resource the universities, including strengthening institutional and human research capacities, to ensure that on all WUR 3.0 metrics Nigerian universities do not fall below the mark.
“NURAC has former vice chancellors as zonal coordinators. These are: Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, former VC, LASU (Southwest); Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, former VC, AE-FUNAI (Southeast); Professor Joseph Ajienka, former VC, UNIPORT (Southsouth); Professor Angela Miri, former VC, FUL (Northcentral); Professor Mohammad Yahuza Bello, former VC, BUK (Northwest); and Professor Jibrila D. Amin (Northeast).
“Others are: Emeritus Professor Nimi Briggs, representing STRADVCOM; Dr. Biodun Saliu, NUC Director, Academic Planning; and Mrs. Hadiza Ramallan, representing NUC.”
NURAC was set up by Professor Rasheed to mobilise Nigerian universities for and catalyse their participation in all global ranking schemes.