University of Ibadan, Redeemer’s, Covenant, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and Federal University of Technology, Akure have emerged as the top universities in Nigeria, according to a recent 2021 Nigerian Universities system ranking.
The ranking which is the first done by the National Universities Commission (NUC) involved 113 universities in Nigeria. Out of the 10 highest ranking, five are private owned universities
According to the report, there were three major drivers for the effort.
“The first was a desire among the population to know more about the relative standing (performance) of the universities and their programmes in order to guide career choices by prospective students,” the report stated.
The report further stated that the government wanted a transparent and objective mechanism for identifying centres of excellence to which funds allocation could be preferentially applied.
And lastly, the NUC needed a basis for advising the government on programmes and universities that should be strengthened to address projected human resource needs of the country.
From the report, a total of 12 indicators were used for the ranking namely, number of full-time students, international students, students and staff ratio, efficiency, google scholar index and contribution to the knowledge economy.
Other criterias include a percentage of international staff, percentage of programmes with full-time accreditation, among others.
The bottom five on the top ten list are Afe Babalola University, University of Ilorin, Babcock University, Landmark University and Edo University.
“These universities are investing more on the quality of education. Their teaching, learning and research are on the rise,” Akin Benjamin, a Lagos based education consultant said.
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Here are some facts about these universities
University of Ibadan (UI)
This university is a public research university in Ibadan, Oyo state. Apart from being the best university in Nigeria, it is also the oldest.
UI is made up of 92 academic departments organised into 17 faculties, namely Arts, Science, Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Agriculture, the Social Sciences, Education, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Technology, Law, Public Health, Dentistry, Economics and Management Sciences, Renewable Natural Resources, Environmental Design and Management, and Multidisciplinary Studies.
The University has educated many notable alumni, Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State, Chinua Achebe, novelist, author of Things Fall Apart and other eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, business icons, philosophers, writers, monarchs, countless technocrats, recipients of the Nigerian National order of merit
Redeemer’s University
Redeemer’s is a private university in Ede, Osun. Established in 2005, the university is owned by the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
The university runs both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Undergraduate programmes started at inception in 2005 with three colleges. They were the College of Natural Sciences, College of Management and Social Sciences, College of Humanities.
In 2013, the university won a World Bank Grant to fund the establishment of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID).
Covenant University
Founded in 2002, this private university is classified as one of Africa’s world-leading Christian Mission Universities.
The founder of the university, David Oyedepo, is one of Nigeria’s most respected spiritual figures and the Bishop and General Overseer of the Living Faith Church aka. Winners Chapel.
The university located Ota, Ogun State, became the first Nigerian university to be ranked in the top 401-500 category of world universities by Times Higher Education in 2019.
The institution’s academic programmes run in four colleges: the College of Business and Social Sciences (CBSS), the College of Leadership Development Studies (CLDS), the College of Engineering (COE), and the College of Science and Technology (CST).
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) is a tertiary institution located in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. It enrols 30,000 students and employs more than 3,000 workers including contract staff.
Late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola was the first Chancellor of the university. Currently, it has six faculties and the post-graduate school. Fields of study include pure and applied science, medicine, agriculture, engineering and technology, and environmental science.
Afe Babalola University
A private university located in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, was founded by a lawyer and philanthropist, Afe Babalola, in 2009. The institution offers academic programs in six colleges: Sciences, Law, Engineering, Social and Management Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Postgraduate Studies.
The Engineering College built on three and half acres of land and equipped with sophisticated state-of-the-art equipment from Europe and the Americas is reputed to be one of the largest in Africa.
University of Ilorin
University of Ilorin, also known as Unilorin, is a federal government-owned university in Ilorin, Kwara State.
It has over 50,000 students and employs over 500 academic staff. Unlike other universities, Unilorin has one of the largest land areas, covering approximately 15,000 hectares of land. It is revealed by JAMB to be the most sought after university in 2021.
Salamat Ahuoiza Aliu, the first woman neurosurgeon in West Africa is a notable alumni of the institution.
Babcock University
Babcock University was named after an American missionary by the name of David C. Babcock, who pioneered the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria in 1914.
From the initial four schools, Babcock University added a postgraduate school in the third quarter of 2010 and a medical school in January 2012.
The latest additions are the Music and Educational Foundations departments to the Joel Awoniyi School of Education and Humanities.
As of 2013, Babcock hosts eight schools and two colleges: School of Social Sciences with departments like Economics; Social works etc, School of Management Sciences with departments like Accounting, Business Administration, Marketing, etc. College of Health and Medical Sciences, College of Post Graduate Studies, etc.
