Okebukola demands progress as 29 Nigerian varsities make global ranking

The Chairman of the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee, Prof Peter Okebukola, has called for improved global academic reputation, research output and international collaboration among Nigerian universities after 29 institutions featured in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Nigeria’s 29 ranked universities, up from 24 in the 2026 edition, gave the country the highest number of ranked institutions in sub-Saharan Africa.

However, Okebukola said the increase should be matched by stronger performance in key areas that influence global rankings.

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

The 2027 ranking placed 2,297 universities across 118 countries and territories, with Nigeria recording 29 institutions, the highest number of ranked universities in sub-Saharan Africa, which has 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, 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.

The latest ranking also 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.

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.

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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 Nigeria’s higher education sector continues to expand, with global rankings increasingly measuring universities against indicators covering teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings describes its 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.

Speaking on the national ranking of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, Okebukola said universities would be assessed using 22 indicators to improve Nigeria’s global competitiveness.

He also said the Federal Government has set December 15, 2026, as the deadline for completing its national ranking.

The exercise, coordinated by the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee, NiTERAC, under the Federal Ministry of Education, is expected to establish a national framework for measuring institutional performance, identifying areas of weakness and encouraging competition among public and private tertiary institutions.

Okebukola said the ranking exercise followed a directive from the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and would cover all three major categories of tertiary institutions.

He said, “As directed by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee has started the process of the 2026 ranking of Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

“The national ranking is intended to stimulate healthy internal competition among Nigerian tertiary institutions and to position the Nigerian tertiary education system for improved global ranking in the coming years.

“The university ranking will use 22 indicators, with weightings agreed with the League of Directors of Academic Planning, and the three sub-sector rankings are scheduled for completion before 15 December 2026. Section 13 describes the exercise.”

The exercise represents an expansion of the government’s approach to assessing tertiary education, moving beyond universities to include polytechnics and colleges of education.

The inclusion of the three subsectors is expected to provide a broader picture of institutional performance across Nigeria’s tertiary education system, although the different mandates of the institutions will require indicators suited to their respective functions.

Universities traditionally place considerable emphasis on research, postgraduate training and knowledge production, while polytechnics focus more heavily on technical and applied skills.

Colleges of education, meanwhile, play a central role in teacher preparation and professional development.

The ranking framework, according to him, would be important in determining how institutions with different academic and professional mandates are assessed and compared.