University of Ibadan best in West Africa

The University of Ibadan (UI) has been named among the top 500 varsities in the world in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) rankings.

In the world ranking for the year 2021 UI emerged in the 401- 500 band and this puts the Institution in pole position in West Africa.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Institution, Idowu Olayinka, commended the institution for the achievement despite the “fiercer competition engendered by an increase in the number of universities assessed worldwide.”

In a statement released, Idowu said: “It is gratifying to note that the University of Ibadan has been ranked in the 401- 500 band. This is our best performance since 2016 when the University of Ibadan started featuring on this highly respected and prestigious Universities ranking body, and in spite of a fiercer competition engendered by an increase in the number of universities assessed worldwide by the THE”.

“The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are the only global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions.”

He further stated that “We acknowledge with thanks the support of the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, the Federal Ministry of Education under Mallam Adamu Adamu, and its agencies”.

“We trust we can always count on your invaluable assistance and encouragement in the years ahead. Congratulations to all of us in the UI Project.”

Times Higher Education (THE) had realised its rankings using 13 “carefully calibrated” performance indicators to provide comparisons “trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.”

UI had ranked within the bands 601-800, 801-1000 and 801-1000 in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. The Institution also emerged in the 601-800 band in 2019 and 501-600 band in 2020.

The University of Oxford claims top spot for the 5th consecutive year while University of Cambridge dropped three places and was ranked at sixth in the world.