The University of Ibadan (UI) has once again secured its position as Nigeria’s leading university in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, placing in the 801–1,000 global band.
This marks its return to the top slot among Nigerian universities, having last held it in 2023.
The Ibadan-based institution advanced from fourth place in 2025, surpassing other prominent Nigerian universities.
THE’s 2026 survey encompassed 2,191 institutions across 115 countries, assessing performance using 18 metrics covering teaching, research, research environment, industry engagement, and international outlook.
UI dethroned Covenant University (CU), which had held the top domestic ranking in 2024 and 2025. Behind UI, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Bayero University Kano (BUK), and Covenant University follow as Nigeria’s second, third, and fourth institutions respectively in THE’s 2026 listing.
The 2026 analysis draws from 174.9 million citations across 18.7 million research publications, alongside responses from more than 108,000 scholars worldwide.
Among Nigerian universities, UNILAG scored the highest in quality research with 66.7, BUK led in international outlook, and CU topped in industry engagement.
Out of over 50 Nigerian universities that appeared in the rankings: two institutions (UI and UNILAG) are in the 801–1,000 global band; BUK, CU, and Landmark University are placed in the 1,001–1,200 band; five, such as Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), and University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), lie within the 1,201–1,500 range; and 14 are ranked beyond 1,501, while 27 institutions were not ranked.
THE, a global authority in higher education data and analysis, requires that universities eligible for ranking must offer undergraduate programmes, conduct research in multiple disciplines, and have published at least 1,000 research works between 2020 and 2024.
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