At least 51 Nigerian universities scored wonderfully in the inaugural Times Higher Education 2023 Sub-Saharan Africa rankings, led by Covenant University, Ota.
At a spectacular unveiling ceremony in Accra on June 26, Times Higher Education revealed the findings of its 2023 Sub-Saharan university rankings.
The ceremony was attended by a Nigerian team led by Professor Peter Okebukola, Chairman of the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee.
According to a statement issued by the National Universities Commission on Wednesday, Okebukola led the Nigerian delegation.
According to him, “Covenant University ranked seventh in Sub-Saharan Africa and first in Nigeria.”
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Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (26th), Benson Idahosa University (30th), Nnamdi Azikiwe University (31st), Redeemer’s University (35th), University of Ibadan (36th), CRUTECH (37th), OAU, Ife (39th), Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University (43rd), Adeleke University (45th), and Ahmadu Bello University (46th).
“Others include the University of Benin (47th), Landmark University (49th), Babcock University (50th), Ajayi Crowther University (51-60th), Bells University of Technology (51-60th), Federal University Kashere (51-60th), Federal University Lokoja (51-60th), Gombe State University (51-60th), Lagos State University (51-60th), University of Port Harcourt (51-60th), Baze University (51-60th), Delta State University (61-70th)
According to a previous Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, “the methodology of the Sub-Saharan African rankings is based on five pillars: resources and finance (20%), access and fairness (20%), teaching skills (20%), student engagement (20%), and Africa impact (20%).”
He stated that Nigerian universities performed admirably across the board, with great possibility for development.
Okebukola, the immediate past Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, stated that “since this is the first edition of the Sub-Saharan university rankings, Nigerian universities will leap to the lead by the next and subsequent editions.”
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“We will continue to improve on the metrics by providing better services to our students and providing better teaching, particularly with the incoming Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards research.”
Okebukola also stated that during the unveiling ceremony and the Sub-Saharan University Forum on “Revolutionising African Higher Education,” Duncan Ross, Chief Data Officer of Times Higher Education, praised Nigerian universities for their progress in the last two years on global and regional league tables.
According to Ross, Nigerian institutions account for the “largest proportion (42%) of the 121 universities that contributed data, followed by South Africa (12%) and Ghana (7%).” Professor Okebukola described this as “the impact of the revolution toward improving the quality of university education delivery in Nigeria, initiated by Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, Executive Secretary NUC, and supported by Adamu Adamu, the immediate-past Minister of Education.”