By Kayode Adebiyi
In the early post-independence years, up to the 1980s, Nigerian universities were highly rated, attracting students from across the world.
As years rolled by, the ratings plummeted, leaving Nigerian universities struggling to gain visibility on the global stage.
In the recently released Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, Oxford University retains the number one spot for the tenth consecutive year, driven by a strong research environment score.
Princeton rises to joint third place and is the only U.S. university to achieve its best-ever finish in the year, while China has five universities in the top 40, up from 2025.
The rankings also show that India now has the second-highest number of ranked universities for the first time, behind only the U.S.
Hong Kong occupies a record six spots in the top 200 as a result of improvements in teaching metrics.
The University of Ibadan, Oyo State, was ranked between 801 and 1,000 globally and ahead of other leading Nigerian universities.
Following the University of Ibadan are the University of Lagos, Bayero University, and Covenant University, ranked second, third, and fourth in Nigeria, respectively.
The list of the best universities in the world includes 2,191 institutions from 115 countries and territories.
THE said its rankings are trusted worldwide by students, academics, governments, and industry experts.
“The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are the only global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
“We use 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons, trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry, and governments.
“One of the metrics (study abroad) currently has zero weight, but we intend to include it in the future, subject to review and consultation.”
Some stakeholders, such as the Chairman of the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee and a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola, have commended the rankings.
However, others argue that there is nothing to cheer about the feat of Nigerian universities in the rankings, as no Nigerian university reached the 401-500 band in the THE World University Rankings.
When the rankings were released for 2024, Prof. Moses Idowu, a professor of Human Development, lamented that only 21 Nigerian universities were recognised out of a total of 274 universities in the country.
He also expressed concerns that the latest global rankings reflected the misgovernance and maladministration prevalent within Nigerian universities and the nation as a whole.
“Here are the shocks: no federal or state university made the list of the top 1,000 universities, and only Covenant and Landmark universities from the private sector ranked in the first two categories.
“Of the 21 universities, six are located in the North, while 15 are in the South.
“Some scholars view this result as impressive and worthy of celebration, I do not.
“I see this as an emblem of national shame, a tragic reflection of the misgovernance and maladministration not only of our universities but of the Nigerian nation as a whole,” he said in a post.
Others like Idowu believe that a degree from a public university once represented an almost guaranteed path to success, a testament to world-class learning and a vibrant intellectual community.
Indeed, the era roughly from the establishment of the University College Ibadan in 1948 up to the late 1980s is now being nostalgically referred to by academics and commentators as the “glory days”.
During that period, Nigerian universities were true centres of excellence; their professors were internationally renowned, their libraries were national treasures, and the campuses routinely hosted foreign instructors and students.
Some stakeholders added that, in those days, Nigerian universities were nurturing not just professionals but also activists and national icons.
“Today, however, the public university system is a shadow of its former self, grappling with chronic underfunding, a severe ‘brain drain’, and perpetual academic disruptions,” an educationist said.
The consensus among stakeholders, therefore, is that a radical and sustained reform agenda is the only way to reverse the decline.
They argue that the success of Nigeria’s first-generation universities was built on a foundation of adequate funding, high autonomy, and an unshakeable commitment to standards.
Prof. Temitope Babalola of the Department of Soil Science and Land Resources Management, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, said priorities had changed in Nigeria’s university system.
“In those glory days, public universities were established to meet the workforce demands of a newly independent nation and were, for a time, fully equipped to do so.
“The early universities, like the University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the regional universities established in the early 1960s, received significant and consistent government investment, particularly during the oil boom of the mid-1970s.
“This funding ensured state-of-the-art laboratories, expansive libraries, and comfortable accommodations.
“Also, professors were hired based on merit and were well-remunerated, which helped to attract and retain world-class faculty, including expatriates.
“Graduates from these institutions were immediately competitive in the global job market.
“Beyond academics, the universities were described as a citadel for character development, exposure and enhancement of ideals, fostering a generation of critical thinkers and responsible citizens,” he said.
Some stakeholders, such as Prof. Emmanuel Nwogwu, traced the decline in public universities to the 1980s, coinciding with economic downturns and a massive increase in student enrollment that was not matched by resource allocation.
“The quality-to-quantity ratio has plummeted; the most persistent challenge is the inadequate funding from the government.
“Nigeria consistently fails to meet the UNESCO recommendation of allocating 15-20 per cent (or even 26 per cent by some interpretations) of its national budget to education, often falling below 15 per cent.
“The dilapidation of infrastructure is also a moral injury to our students. You cannot expect 21st-century graduates to emerge from a learning environment where laboratories are bare, hostels are unlivable, and classrooms lack basic amenities.
“The physical state of a university is a direct reflection of its intellectual ambition.”
“Poor remuneration, unfavourable working conditions, and instability caused by strikes have fueled a massive brain drain, or what many refer to as the japa syndrome, where highly qualified academics emigrate to more developed countries.
“This leaves the remaining faculty overworked and leads to high student-to-teacher ratios, drastically affecting the quality of teaching and mentorship.”
He said that there was a need to urgently review the curriculum to align with global standards and the demands of the modern, knowledge-based economy.
According to him, the curriculum should be refreshed with substantial input from professional bodies and key employers.
“This involves embedding internships and practical modules to enhance graduate employability and transferable skills.
“I should add that public university funding should be heavily weighted towards research grants to encourage faculty to shift focus from mere classroom instruction to cutting-edge inquiry.
“This fosters the intellectual environment that defines a world-class university; but, ultimately, the quality of a university rests on the competence and motivation of its academic staff,” Nwogwu said.
Other challenges persist, but experts say there has to be a roadmap to rebirth and strategies for the restoration of Nigerian public universities.
They say the path back to prominence requires a multi-pronged approach involving a shared commitment from the government, university management, faculty, and the private sector.
“The focus must shift from simply managing decline to strategically pursuing excellence.
“It has to start with finding a sustainable funding model that is not solely reliant on unpredictable government revenue,” a stakeholder said.
Others say university management must be empowered to generate significant internally generated revenue (IGR) through commercial ventures, alumni endowments, research grants, and realistic, yet subsidised, tuition fees, especially at the postgraduate level.
Some stakeholders frown at the proliferation of public universities.
They hold that rather than continually establishing new universities, there should be a moratorium on new institutions to allow a strategic, substantial investment in upgrading existing ones.
Kayode Adebiyi writes for the , News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
