The University of Ibadan (UI) has reclaimed its position as Nigeria’s best university in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026, moving up from fourth place in the previous year.
The new ranking, released on Thursday, placed the premier university within the 801–1000 global band, ahead of the University of Lagos, Bayero University, Kano, and Covenant University, which occupied the second, third, and fourth spots respectively.
The report, published on THE’s official website, evaluated 2,191 universities from 115 countries, using 18 performance indicators across five major criteria teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.
The 2026 list marks a return to dominance for UI, which last topped the national ranking in 2023. It displaced Covenant University, which had held the top position for two consecutive years, 2024 and 2025.
According to THE’s data, more than 174.9 million citations from 18.7 million research publications were analysed, alongside responses from over 108,000 scholars worldwide.
The ranking also revealed that UNILAG led Nigerian universities in research quality, scoring 66.7 points, while Bayero University performed best in international outlook. Covenant University retained the country’s highest score in industry impact, reflecting strong connections between academia and the private sector.
Out of the 51 Nigerian universities that made the 2026 list, UI and UNILAG were placed in the 801–1000 bracket; BUK, Covenant, and Landmark ranked between 1001–1200; while institutions such as Ahmadu Bello University, FUT Minna, University of Ilorin, University of Jos, and University of Nigeria, Nsukka, appeared in the 1201–1500 category.
Fourteen universities were ranked above 1501, while 27 institutions participated but were not ranked due to lower data performance.
THE explained that universities must meet certain conditions to qualify, they must offer undergraduate programmes, conduct multidisciplinary research, and have published at least 1,000 research papers between 2020 and 2024, with a minimum of 100 per year.