HEOFA Hails NUC As Nigerian Varsities Shine In Global Rankings

The Higher Education Observatory for Africa (HEOFA) has applauded the efforts of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in implementing its 2021-2027 strategic plan on ranking.

In a press release by Dr. Fred Mensah, a Ghanaian member of the Board of HEOFA, the education observatory commended the  University of Ibadan, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Obafemi Awolowo University for shining in the global ranking.

He said the dividend of the NUC-led effort is the top ranking of Nigerian universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) which was released on August 15, 2022.

ARWU is one of the most-respected ranking schemes in the world.  It uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Clarivate, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded, and Social Sciences Citation Index, in the Web of Science,  and per capita performance of a university.

He noted that more than 2500 universities are ranked by ARWU every year and the best 1000 are published.

This year, Harvard University tops the ranking list for the 20th year. Stanford University remains at the number 2 seat. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) rises one position to the number 3.

Other Top 10 universities are Cambridge (4th), Berkeley (5th), Princeton (6th), Oxford (7th), Columbia (8th), Caltech (9th), and Chicago (10th).”

HEOFA noted that “for the first time in the history of ARWU which started in 2003, University of Ibadan appeared in the 800-901 band.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai ranking also has a subject component- Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS).

In the 2022 GRAS ranking which was also released on Monday, Nigeria featured as follows: in Veterinary Sciences, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta emerged in the 201 to 300 group; in Dentistry and Oral Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University was also in the 201 to 300 group; while in Psychology, University of Nigeria emerged in the 401 to 500 group”.

Speaking further to newsmen on this development, the chairman of the governing board of HEOFA, Professor Emeritus Peter Okebukola, congratulated Malam Adamu Adamu- the Honourable Minister of Education, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, the Executive Secretary of NUC as well as the authorities of the University of Ibadan, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Obafemi Awolowo University for this feat.

With the 2021-2027 strategic plan on ranking and the 2019-2023 Blueprint on the Rapid Revitalisation of University Education in Nigeria being implemented by NUC, the world of ranking will quake with the huge appearance of Nigerian universities in the top 200 in the world before 2030.

“I urge all stakeholders to be part of the provision of the enabling environment of better resourcing of our universities, better welfare scheme for staff to bolster motivation and enhance commitment to quality teaching and research and all in the context of a stable academic calendar in order to achieve our 2030 goal of top ranking in global league tables” Okebukola concluded.