National Universities Commission
The National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigeria’s higher education funding and regulatory body, has been producing an annual ranking of Nigerian universities for a number of years. In its 2005 ranking, the NUC assessed research output at the country’s 65 universities as measured by the number of scholarly research articles published in prestigious international academic journals, and the number of citations in scholarly indexes.
Results
| Nigeria’s Top-20 Universities as Measured by Research Output | ||
| Rank | University | Score |
| 1 | Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife | 200 |
| 2 | Federal University of Technology, Akure | 186 |
| 3 | University of Ibadan | 154 |
| 4 | University of Lagos | 144 |
| 5 | University of Agriculture Abeokuta | 74 |
| 6 | University of Ilorin | 62 |
| 7 | University of Benin | 50 |
| 8 | Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka | 44 |
| 9 | Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt | 32 |
| 10 | University of Calabar | 30 |
| 11 | Federal University of Technology, Owerri | 22 |
| 12 | Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso | 22 |
| 13 | Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi | 18 |
| 14 | University of Ado-Ekiti | 18 |
| 15 | University of Uyo | 14 |
| 16 | University of Agriculture Makurdi | 12 |
| 17 | Delta State University, Abraka | 12 |
| 18 | Nasarawa State University, Keffi | 12 |
| 19 | Abia State University, Uturu | 12 |
| 20 | University of Maiduguri | 10 |
Source: Thisday Newspaper, March 1, 2005
The same report outlined the faculties that excelled at the top-three-ranked universities:
Obafemi Awolowo: Science (68), Agriculture (360, Environmental Design and Management (36), Pharmacy (36), Technology (18), Social Sciences (4), and Law (2).
Federal University of Technology, Akure: Agriculture and Agricultural Technology (104), Sciences (74), Environmental Technology (4), Engineering and Engineering Technology (2), and Mines and Earth Science (2).
University of Ibadan: Agriculture and Forestry (42), Public Health (34), Science (26), Pharmacy (14), Clinical Sciences (12), Basic Medical Sciences (10), Education (8), Dentistry (4), and Veterinary Medicine (4).