I remain excited with the way Nigerian institutions continue to go higher, especially in the just-released World University Rankings, 2022 by the Times Higher Education. To date, this ranking is regarded as the largest and most diverse university ranking worldwide, as it cuts across 99 countries and territories, covering more than 1,600 universities. It obliges the heart to see that we have attained this height, despite the many months’ old strike by the country’s public universities. It is very remarkable to see many of our institutions ranked high among the best 500, 1000, and 1500 institutions in the world. Overall in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, and Covenant University (a privately-owned university in Ogun State) topped the list, followed by Bayero University, the only university listed from Northwestern Nigeria.
Out of all the 10 Nigerian universities listed in the best 1600 globally, universities located in the Southern part of the country came on top, with the University of Ibadan (436), University of Lagos (449), Covenant University (642), Bayero University Kano (1,017), Federal University of Technology Akure (1,055), University of Benin (1,231), University of Ilorin (1,309), University of Nigeria Nsukka (1,376), Obafemi Awolowo University (1,381) and Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (1,571). Bayero University Kano and the University of Ilorin are the only two institutions from the North. With the way things are going, the Northern universities are far left behind. There is a need for them to sit up, re-strategize, and be ready for the challenging task of institutional reform in every way possible.
Going by the milestone achieved by the Nigerian universities, this calls for celebration and as we rejoice, we need not forget some key points, as a significant number of our institutions are left out in the rankings. This is indeed a wake-up call to all our universities, covering both the federal, state, and privately -owned universities. A call to increase quality teaching via the implementation of novel teaching methodologies that are centered on student active engagement, scholarly research output, as well as community service, as the rankings are strictly done based on carefully calibrated performance indicators, centered on measuring an institution’s key performance across four core areas, teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.
In Africa, two Nigerian universities (University of Ibadan, 7th and University of Lagos, 9th) appear in the best nine universities, with South African universities topping the list, having four different universities. This remains a very clear indicator of our high potential, global impact as well as our involvement in every facet of life as it relates to international development. With the support of all the stakeholders in the educational sector, I believe we can attain higher. With this I urge every player in the educational sector, including the government, to play well their role, through improved funding, for scholarly research output as this will significantly boost our global recognition.
Ismail Rabiu, Lecturer, Department of Microbiology, Skyline University, Nigeria
