By Ayodele Oni
After two years of non recognition, the University of Ibadan (UI) has bounced back, reclaiming its position as Nigeria’s best University in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026.
The ranking, released on Thursday, placed UI between 801 and 1,000 globally, ahead of all other Nigerian Universities. The Ibadan-based institution last held the top national spot in 2023.
UI moved up from fourth place in 2025 to first in 2026, displacing Covenant University, which had dominated the rankings in 2024 and 2025.
The University of Lagos (UNILAG), Bayero University, Kano (BUK), and Covenant University (CU) followed in second, third, and fourth positions, respectively.
THE evaluated 2,191 universities from 115 countries, using 18 performance indicators across five key areas — teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.
The 2026 edition highlighted shifts in global higher education. More than 18.7 million research publications, generating 174.9 million citations, were analysed. The ranking also drew input from over 108,000 scholars worldwide.
Among Nigerian universities, UNILAG achieved the highest research quality score of 66.7. BUK topped the chart for international outlook, while Covenant University earned the highest industry score, reflecting its strong ties with the private sector.
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
 has bounced back, reclaiming its position as Nigeria’s best University in){kind=link}