Full list: UI tops Nigeria’s 2026 varsity rankings

The University of Ibadan (UI) has reclaimed its crown as Nigeria’s best university, according to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026 released on Thursday.

UI, located in Oyo State, jumped from fourth position last year to lead the 2026 table, dethroning Covenant University, which had dominated the rankings in 2024 and 2025.

The latest report placed UI between 801–1,000 globally, ahead of other top contenders, including the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Bayero University Kano (BUK), and Covenant University (CU) — ranked second, third, and fourth in Nigeria, respectively.

The 2026 ranking evaluated 2,191 institutions across 115 countries, using 18 performance indicators grouped into five key areas — teaching, research environment, research quality, industry engagement, and international outlook.

BUK stood out for its international outlook, while Covenant retained its edge in industry connections. UNILAG also made a mark as the best Nigerian university in research quality, with a score of 66.7.

According to THE, the 2026 edition drew on over 174.9 million citations from 18.7 million research publications, alongside survey responses from more than 108,000 scholars worldwide — signalling a major shift in global higher education competitiveness.

Out of 51 Nigerian universities ranked, only UI and UNILAG made it to the 801–1000 band.
BUK, Covenant, and Landmark University followed within the 1001–1200 range.

Five other schools — Ahmadu Bello University, Federal University of Technology, Minna, University of Ilorin, University of Jos, and University of Nigeria, Nsukka — appeared in the 1201–1500 global category.

Meanwhile, 14 Nigerian universities were ranked above 1501, while 27 others failed to make the cut.

Nigeria’s 2026 Top Varsities at a Glance

University of Ibadan (801–1000)

University of Lagos (801–1000)

Bayero University (1001–1200)

Covenant University (1001–1200)

Landmark University (1001–1200)

Ahmadu Bello University (1201–1500)

Federal University of Technology, Minna (1201–1500)

University of Ilorin (1201–1500)

University of Jos (1201–1500)

University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1201–1500)

Others ranked above 1501 include Babcock, LASU, OAU, UNIBEN, UNICAL, and UNIPORT.

THE, a globally respected authority on higher education data, clarified that only universities meeting its research and teaching benchmarks were considered — including a minimum of 1,000 publications between 2020 and 2024.