Professor Peter Okebukola has commended the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos for ranking among the world’s top 1,000 universities in 2026.
He described their performance as a major national improvement.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee and former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Emeritus Peter Okebukola, has praised the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos for their impressive performance in the 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
In a statement released in Abuja on Thursday, Okebukola said both universities ranked among the top 1,000 institutions globally, with an overall score range of 35.5 to 38.9. He described the new ranking as an improvement from 2025, when only Covenant University appeared in the global top 1,000 list.
According to him, the Times Higher Education ranking system relies on 18 key indicators to assess universities across areas such as teaching, research, industry engagement, and international outlook. He noted that the assessment is widely respected by academics, students, and policymakers around the world.
Okebukola added that other Times ranking categories include the Impact Rankings, where Afe Babalola University has maintained a strong presence, the Sub-Saharan Africa ranking, and subject-specific evaluations.
He highlighted that the University of Oxford led the global ranking, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and Stanford University. “Oxford retains the number one spot for the tenth year, driven by its strong research environment,” he said.
Breaking down Nigeria’s performance, Okebukola explained that Bayero University Kano, Covenant University, and Landmark University were placed in the 32.1–35.4 range, ranking among the top 1,200 universities worldwide. He noted that in 2025, four Nigerian institutions were in that category, indicating a slight drop this year.
He also mentioned that Ahmadu Bello University, Federal University of Technology Minna, University of Ilorin, University of Jos, and University of Nigeria Nsukka appeared in the 1201–1500 range, while 14 other Nigerian universities were placed in the 1500+ category.
The 2026 Times Higher Education list, released on Thursday, evaluated 2,191 universities from 115 countries. The assessment considered 18.7 million research publications, 174.9 million citations, and responses from more than 108,000 scholars.
In Nigeria, the University of Ibadan emerged as the country’s top-ranked university, reclaiming the number one spot it last held in 2023. The University of Lagos followed in second place, while Bayero University Kano and Covenant University ranked third and fourth respectively.
