Statistics relying on a computer-based test was recently conducted by the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) with the objective of finding out the top most sought-after varsities in Nigeria.

The study, which was conducted from February 27 to March 3 across 540 centres in the country has placed University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) in Kwara state as possibly the best higher institution in Nigeria.

According to ThePunch, UNILORIN attracted 103, 238 applicants in the last UTME while University of Benin (UNIBEN) clinched the second place with 81, 363 applications.

The third and fourth most popular universities among candidates are Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna state, with 75, 383 applicants and University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu state which attracted 65, 954 candidates.

The fifth position went to Bayero University with 64, 220 interested students as Nnamdi Azikwe University followed closely with 61, 862 candidates.

The University of Lagos came in seventh place with 60, 659 candidates, University of Ibadan, rating eighth with 59, 176 candidates and Obafemi Awolowo University came in ninth with 45, 924 candidate seeking admission into the varsity.

The final university to make the top ten is the University of Jos with 40, 366 applicants.

Covenant University continued to lead the pack for the private institutions, with Afe Babalola University, Babcock University, and the Igbinedion University, all following in the top four with 2, 586; 1, 304, 1, 248 and 418 applicants respectively.

Meanwhile, Imo state led in the number of candidates who sat for the UTME in Nigeria with a total of 104, 383 candidates, overshadowing the 98,028 candidates who sat for same examination from eight northern states and Federal Capital Territory.

According to Punch reports, the carrying capacity of all tertiary institutions in the country this year is 695, 449, however 1, 592, 305 million candidates sat for entrance examinations.

A source at the National Universities Commission (NUC) also revealed that of the 1,592,305 applicants, 1,557,017 of them, representing 97.78 per cent, applied for university education, while 17,673 or 1.11 per cent sought admission to the colleges of education.

Seventeen thousand five hundred and eight-four, representing 1.10 candidates, applied for National Diploma in the polytechnics. The remaining 31 applicants, representing 0.002 per cent, applied for NID.

This data revealed some salient points to note:

1. Students can show apathy to schools deemed to be hard in securing admission I.e.UI, Unilag, OAU,FUNAAB, FUTA
2. Students showed interest in Unilorin most probably because of no disruptions to academic calendar although the school is one of the top ten in Nigeria.
3. This data is not representative of standards existing in these school e.g. ABU is very popular in the North and one cannot be surprised how many people living in the that part of the country that want to attend the school, same with UniJos
4. About half of all applicants won't have university admission, that's terrible!
5. Cost and standard can be determining factors in choosing a private university