29 Nigerian Varsities in THE Ranking Nothing to Celebrate - ASUU President

ASUU President, Prof Chris Piwuna, says inclusion of 29 Nigerian universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2027 is not worth celebrating due to poor funding and deteriorating research conditions.

In an interview with Punch Newspapers, Prof Piwuna faulted Federal Government's claim that the increase from 24 universities in 2026 to 29 in 2027 shows its reforms are working.

He said: When you meet a tortoise at a spot, and you come back tomorrow and find him 10 feet away from where he was yesterday, he has moved, hasn't he? But you know that you could get a rabbit at a spot, and when you come back today, you can't even see it. Our union is embarrassed that we have moved just five spaces and that's what we're celebrating as Nigeria.

Prof Piwuna argued that key indicators for THE rankings - research and its impact, learning environment, and employability of graduates - remain weak in Nigeria.

According to data from the 2027 ranking, which assessed 2,297 universities across 118 countries:

- Nigeria is the most represented in sub-Saharan Africa with 29 ranked institutions

- Only three Nigerian universities are in the 801-1000 band: University of Ibadan, University of Lagos and Covenant University (a private university)

- Four others are in the 1,001-1,200 band

- An additional 32 Nigerian universities were listed as Reporter institutions, meaning they submitted data but did not meet criteria for ranking, bringing total participating institutions to 61 out of 328 universities listed by NUC

Piwuna questioned how many of the 29 are even within the top 1,000 globally, stressing that only two public universities made that cut. He linked poor performance to chronic underfunding, poor infrastructure, low salaries and brain drain, noting that in his own hospital, Jos University Teaching Hospital, at least 20 consultants left in the last two years.

He reiterated ASUU's longstanding demands for sustainable funding, improved conditions of service, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee (NiTERAC), Emeritus Prof Peter Okebukola, said the result should serve as a diagnostic tool, urging universities to improve global academic reputation, research funding, doctoral output and international collaboration. He disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education has set December 15, 2026 deadline for a national ranking of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education using 22 indicators.