The Federal Government has directed that a comprehensive national ranking of all universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education be concluded by 15 December 2026.
Details of the initiative were revealed in a report dated 30 September 2026 on Nigeria’s standing in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, authored by the Chairman of the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee, Professor Peter Okebukola.
Operating under the Federal Ministry of Education, the advisory body will evaluate universities against 22 distinct indicators to establish a domestic performance benchmark, pinpoint institutional weaknesses, and spark healthy competition between public and private institutions across the three subsectors.
Okebukola explained that the assessment follows an explicit directive from the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to broaden the scope of tertiary evaluation beyond traditional university models.
He noted: “As directed by the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee has started the process of the 2026 ranking of Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.”
“The national ranking is intended to stimulate healthy internal competition among Nigerian tertiary institutions and to position the Nigerian tertiary education system for improved global ranking in the coming years,” he added.
“The university ranking will use 22 indicators, with weightings agreed with the League of Directors of Academic Planning, and the three sub-sector rankings are scheduled for completion before 15 December 2026. Section 13 describes the exercise.”
The national exercise comes as 29 Nigerian universities earned places in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, up from 24 in the previous edition, securing Nigeria’s position as the most represented country in sub-Saharan Africa.
The University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, and Covenant University led the country’s contingent in the 801 to 1,000 global bracket, while four additional institutions secured spots in the 1,001 to 1,200 tier. An extra 32 Nigerian institutions were classified under Reporter status, which is a category designated for schools that submitted performance data but fell short of full ranking criteria, bringing total participation to 61 tertiary centres.
Despite these gains, the report observed that only 29 of the 328 NUC-recognised universities managed to secure ranked placements, underscoring systemic disparities in teaching standards, research quality, industry engagement, and international outreach.
It identified chronic deficits in research funding, publication output, institutional data handling, and cross-border academic collaboration as critical barriers that must be addressed through data validation, rigorous assessment, and targeted institutional reforms ahead of the December deadline.