University of Ibadan (UI) has emerged Number One in the 2021 ranking by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The NUC ranked 113 universities in the country using 12 indicators: number of full-time students, number of international students, students and staff ratio, efficiency, google scholar index and contribution to knowledge economy.

Other criteria used for the ranking include: percentage of international staff, percentage of programmes with full time accreditation, all citation per capital, amongst others.

The lead presenter, Prof. Peter Okebukola, disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at a workshop organised by Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) on improving the ranking of public universities in Nigeria.

Okebukola said: “You cannot get any form of ranking system in the whole wide world that does what Nigeria has done. For this 2021 edition, based on the 12 indicators that will have developed, University of Ibadan is the first followed by Federal University of Technology Akure.

“Next year we will look at the indicators that we used this year and see whether there are things to add or drop. So, it is going to be an annual thing.”

He, however, noted that some varsities did not participate in the ranking.

Speaking at the event, Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof. Elias Bogoro, said Nigerian universities must be repositioned to be competitive and to take the lead in research and innovation.

“The situation is so unfortunate and worrisome that it calls for reflection and action on the part of the government, the Nigerian intelligentsia and indeed the Nigerian people.

“It is challenging in the sense that the success of our universities is tied to the progress and development of the nation. If the Asian countries were able rise to such enviable place along the ranking of world universities, nothing stops Nigerian universities from making similar progress if they are so determined.

“Some of the problems identified as hindering the progress and performance of Nigerian universities in the global ranking of world universities include:

poor investment by some tiers of government in the development of universities,” Bogoro said.

Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Adamu, said Nigerian tertiary education needs improved funding.