Photo: Chairman, NiTERAC, Emeritus Prof. Peter Okebukola
The Chairman of the Nigerian Tertiary Education and Research Analysis Committee, Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, said Nigerian universities are on course to achieve record-breaking performances in global rankings from 2027, driven by increased competition among institutions, rising research citations and a new national ranking framework.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, Okebukola made the projection at the weekly meeting of NiTERAC and Directors of Academic Planning held on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, attributing the anticipated improvement to the Federal Government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the assessment of tertiary institutions across the country.
He identified the mandatory national ranking exercise introduced by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, on September 1, 2026, as one of the factors mobilising universities to showcase their performance in teaching, research and community service.
According to him, “the exercise has intensified competition among federal, state and private universities, prompting institutions that previously did not fully publicise their achievements to demonstrate their strengths.”
Okebukola said, “This mandatory directory has caused mass mobilisation of tertiary institutions in the country to gear up for the 2026 national ranking exercise.”
He added that the initiative was encouraging institutions to document their accomplishments and improve their visibility in the higher education sector.
The NiTERAC chairman also identified the growing participation of academics in Google Scholar and other citation-tracking platforms as another factor expected to improve the international standing of Nigerian universities.
He said,” Increased enrolment in these platforms has resulted in a significant expansion of Nigeria’s citation data, which could translate into better performance in global rankings from 2027.”
According to him, research output and citations are important components of international university ranking systems, either directly or indirectly.
Okebukola said the third factor was the design of the 22 indicators being used for the 2026 national rankings, which were drawn from a combination of the world’s four leading global ranking systems.
He said the approach would familiarise Nigerian universities with the standards and performance measures used by international ranking agencies, better positioning them to compete globally in subsequent years.
On the progress of the 2026 exercise, Okebukola said university rankings had reached the 12th stage of a 17-step process.
He added that the rankings of polytechnics and colleges of education were also progressing, with December 15, 2026, set as the deadline for completing all categories.
The results, he said, would be released only after the Minister of Education approved NiTERAC’s recommendations.
Okebukola further disclosed that the committee planned to introduce thematic rankings from 2027, an approach he described as a first in the global ranking landscape.
He said the proposed framework would be designed around Nigeria’s development priorities, with greater emphasis on the capacity of tertiary institutions to produce graduates who could apply their knowledge to solve practical problems.
According to him, the proposed indicators would assess functional education rather than focus solely on theoretical knowledge and conventional academic performance measures.
He cited the position of the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, who, while delivering the 14th convocation lecture of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, called for graduates who were functionally educated and could apply their knowledge competently, use it ethically and create demonstrable value for society.
Okebukola said NiTERAC intended to develop ranking indicators that could also serve as a model for other African countries pursuing the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which outlines the continent’s long-term development aspirations.
He said the proposed thematic rankings would, among other things, measure innovations produced by tertiary institutions within the preceding two years.
These would include the number of patents secured, new products developed and processes introduced to address Nigeria’s development challenges.
The approach, he said, was intended to make university rankings more responsive to national needs by assessing not only academic output but also the practical contributions of institutions to society.
The planned shift comes amid growing pressure on Nigerian universities to improve their international visibility, research productivity, graduate employability and contributions to economic and social development.
The 2026 national ranking exercise is expected to provide a baseline for assessing institutional performance and identifying areas requiring improvement across the country’s tertiary education system.