Nigerian universities must improve global reputation, research – Education ranking committee

Photo: Chairman, NiTERAC, Emeritus Prof. Peter Okebukola

The Chairman of the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee under the Federal Ministry of Education, Prof Peter Okebukola, has said Nigerian universities must strengthen their global academic reputation, research output and international collaborations to improve the country’s standing in global university rankings.

Okebukola made the submission in his assessment of Nigeria’s performance in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings released on Wednesday.

The 2027 ranking assessed 2,297 universities across 118 countries and territories, with Nigeria recording 29 ranked universities, up from 24 in the 2026 edition. Nigeria also had the highest number of ranked universities in sub-Saharan Africa, which recorded 69 institutions in the latest ranking.

According to Okebukola, “the increase in the number of Nigerian universities featured in the ranking should also prompt closer attention to the areas where the country continues to lag.”

He identified global academic reputation as the single biggest lever for improving Nigeria’s performance, noting that reputation-related measures account for 33 per cent of the overall ranking score.

He said, “Nigerian universities could improve their international academic standing by participating more actively in international conferences, undertaking joint research, attracting visiting professors and strengthening links with academics and alumni in the diaspora.”

Okebukola, a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, also called for improved research funding and productivity, more accurate institutional data submission, increased doctoral output, deeper international collaboration and mobility, as well as stronger industry engagement and patenting.

His assessment showed that Research Quality was Nigeria’s strongest ranking pillar, with a mean score of 43.3, while Research Environment and Teaching recorded mean scores of 13.9 and 20.6 respectively.

The latest ranking showed that Covenant University, the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos jointly occupied Nigeria’s highest position, in the 801–1000 global band. Covenant improved from the 1001–1200 band in 2026, while UI and UNILAG retained their positions.

Four other Nigerian universities — Ahmadu Bello University, Bayero University, Landmark University and the University of Ilorin — were placed in the 1001–1200 band, taking the number of Nigerian universities in the global top 1,200 to seven.

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Okebukola noted that federal universities continued to account for most of Nigeria’s institutions in the upper bands, with five of the seven universities in the top 1,200 being federal institutions — the universities of Ibadan, Lagos and Ilorin, Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University.

He said the number of federal universities in the top 1,200 rose from three in 2026 to five in 2027, while their share of Nigeria’s institutions in the band increased from 60 per cent to 71.4 per cent.

Overall, 19 federal universities, seven state universities and three private universities were ranked.

Beyond the 29 ranked institutions, 32 Nigerian universities were listed as Reporters, having submitted data but not met the requirements for inclusion in the ranked table. Sixteen of the Reporter institutions are private universities, 12 are state-owned and four are federal.

Okebukola said the results should serve as a diagnostic tool for the Nigerian higher education system and provide empirical evidence for the work of NiTERAC.

The development comes as global university rankings increasingly assess institutions using indicators covering teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. THE describes its World University Rankings as an assessment of research-intensive universities across their core missions.

Against this backdrop, Okebukola disclosed that NiTERAC had commenced work on a national ranking of Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

He said the exercise, initiated following a directive from the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, is expected to be completed before December 15, 2026, and is designed to stimulate healthy competition among tertiary institutions while helping Nigeria improve its performance in global rankings.

Okebukola said the national ranking would complement international rankings while helping institutions identify gaps in areas including research environment, doctoral output and academic reputation.