Ifelola Olaleye

The University of Ibadan broke into the top 1000 universities in the world some few years ago, becoming the first and only university in Nigeria to do so till date. For some who may not understand the significance of this feat, It would be important to note that more than 95% of universities in USA never make the Times Higher Top 1000. This means that Times Higher Education a UK based ranking body believes that UI is in some ways is better than majority of universities in the US.

The times top 1000 represent the top of the top of universities in the world - they are the elite 5% of universities amongst over 25,000 institutions across the globe. Times itself ranks universities under 13 pillars collapsed into the following five categories; Teaching, Research, Citations, Industry income and Internationalisation.

Despite the severe funding challenges that has hit the Nigerian academic space, it is still amazing how a Nigerian university could still manage to attain anything significant.

The following image shows why University Of Ibadan has remained the Nigerian king on almost all reputable University rankings.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2179463185417137&id=100000604299656

Lalasticlala seun

According to this Scival tool which tracks all SCOPUS indexed research publications the University of Ibadan has the highest research output followed by OAU and then Covenant university

2017
Number of Academic Department
University Of Ibadan - 66
OAU - 90
Covenant - 32


Highest Research Output From Nigeria

University of Ibadan - 950
Obafemi Awolowo University - 550
Covenant University - 500

Highest Research Output/Department From Nigeria
Covenant University - 500 ÷ 32 = 15 publi../dept
UI - 950 ÷ 66 = 14 publications/department
OAU - 550÷90 = 6 Publications/department

In the above screenshot it can be seen why the University of Ibadan remains the best in Nigeria in terms of research output. However, when comparing on a more global scale, even the university of ibadan seems deficient. Especially in contrast with South African Universities(e.g University Of Capettown) of her size who churn out as much as 3000 research papers in one year. The likes of Harvard churn out well over 15,000 research publications in one single academic year.

The following pictures would reveal just how fair the university of ibadan is fairing alongside other universities in Africa.

The Times Higher datapoint reveals a bleak prospect for Nigerian universities as Nigeria's best university seems to be rated poorly on some important parameters. It is also important to note that with the poor rate of publications in other federal universities like Unilag and OAU, Nigeria might not see another federal university on top 1000 for the next five years.

University Of Ibadan Times Higher Data Point (%)

Comparing Other Highly Ranked African Institutions with UI

University Of Capetown - South Africa
University Of Makerere - Uganda
University Of Ghana - Ghana
University Of Witwatersrand - South Africa

A CALL FOR SPECIAL FUNDING FOR NIGERIA'S FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITIES


The Times higher top 1000 ranking is no small feat as It would literally cost most Nigerian universities billions of naira to make such list.

This means with far more funding, the university of ibadan might be able to do more than it does currently. A well funded UI would also feed virtually all universities in Nigeria with quality Phd holders and would easily rub off on other institutions.

It is therefore recommended that the Nigerian government selects a total of six federal universities across the Nation. Each representing the best from their geopolitical zones and they should be given special funding to stand as Nigeria's flagship universities.

We need to realise Nigeria can't fund all its universities to World Class. We need to pick 6(one from each region) flagship universities like the ivy leagues or C9 of China and fund it excessively like Ghana funds the university of Ghana, so that those universities can in turn help to solve some of our top most national problems.
Those universities would be
1) Mandated to reduce their various enrollment sizes to NUC recommended capacities.

2) Encouraged to put more emphasis on postgraduate/research education.

3) Allowed to determine its fees in line with an agreed aggregate with FG(Not expensive but not outrageously low)

4) Encouraged to do away with Catchment policies and Elds consideration for undergraduate enrollment and staff recruitment.

5) Encouraged to remain comprehensive universities but with a degree of speciality in certain disciplines e.g UI for Medicine/Surgery, ABU for Military research, UNN for renewable energy.

6) Mandated to do away with ASUU

7) Encouraged to tap into industry partnership for more income.

cool Encouraged to create an important metric that assess researchers relevance in Scopus and Thompson Reuters web of science and base staff promotion on it.

9) Excessively funded by govt. Recommendation would be to allocate additional funds of 25 billion per university.

10) Mandated to publish annual independent financial audit report by either PwC or KPMG which would be posted on the University website as done by many world class university.

11) Encouraged to have a strong and updated internet presence to boost visibility of the universities. UI and UNN websites looks like junk.

12) Encourage collaboration with research universities in developing nations and developed countries(dealing with issues pertaining to developing nations). This would also increase the chances of getting millions of dollars in grant from foreign organisations.

13) Individual FG ministeries should recommend research work to the university of choice as they deem fit. E.g Rice production in Nigeria with genetic modification(to carry b-carotene for vit A production) aimed at eradicating commonplace blindness in Northern Nigeria. In the event the project is too costly for govt or the university, the university having requisite facility, infrastructure, processes and international collaborations would be able to attract billions of dollars from generous foreign organisations. Case study; Oxford currently has a 5 bill USD grant from Gates foundation to develop C4 rice.

13) Govt set up an apolitical technical committee and assess the performance of these universities across their core mandate, research relevance, international outlook and rankings(especially Times and ARWU)



So that would be 150 billion more for our flagship universities. Considering the fact that the Nigerian senate takes just about that amount as its annual budget then that shouldn't be too hard for Nigeria to afford.

Lots of potentials in this country. So many things we'd achieve if things re properly done. Bad leadership/governance is the problem...

UI is toping the Nigerians list due to the age advantage and not in the quality aspect.

that's my baby

CodeTemplar:
UI is toping the Nigerians list due to the age advantage and not in the quality aspect.

At least,the OP back up his claim with relevant data.
You, you just talk out of hate, jealousy and bigotry simple!

Basic123:

At least,the OP back up his claim with relevant data.
You, you just talk out of hate, jealousy and bigotry simple!

u r d 1 talking out of bigotry, hate n jealousy. For all the effort of 60 years UI can only marginally beat a sch of less than 15 years. That's not due to qualitiy but the long years of accumulating papers at snail speed.
The OP fact even supports my points.

HigherEd:
A CALL FOR SPECIAL FUNDING FOR NIGERIA'S FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITIES


The Times higher top 1000 ranking is no small feat as It would literally cost most Nigerian universities billions of naira to make such list.

This means with far more funding, the university of ibadan might be able to do more than it does currently. A well funded UI would also feed virtually all universities in Nigeria with quality Phd holders and would easily rub off on other institutions.

It is therefore recommended that the Nigerian government selects a total of six federal universities across the Nation. Each representing the best from their geopolitical zones and they should be given special funding to stand as Nigeria's flagship universities.

We need to realise Nigeria can't fund all its universities to World Class. We need to pick 6(one from each region) flagship universities like the ivy leagues or C9 of China and fund it excessively like Ghana funds the university of Ghana, so that those universities can in turn help to solve some of our top most national problems.
Those universities would be
1) Mandated to reduce their various enrollment sizes to NUC recommended capacities.

2) Encouraged to put more emphasis on postgraduate/research education.

3) Allowed to determine its fees in line with an agreed aggregate with FG(Not expensive but not outrageously low)

4) Encouraged to do away with Catchment policies and Elds consideration for undergraduate enrollment and staff recruitment.

5) Encouraged to remain comprehensive universities but with a degree of speciality in certain disciplines e.g UI for Medicine/Surgery, ABU for Military research, UNN for renewable energy.

6) Mandated to do away with ASUU

7) Encouraged to tap into industry partnership for more income.

cool Encouraged to create an important metric that assess researchers relevance in Scopus and Thompson Reuters web of science and base staff promotion on it.

9) Excessively funded by govt. Recommendation would be to allocate additional funds of 25 billion per university.

10) Mandated to publish annual independent financial audit report by either PwC or KPMG which would be posted on the University website as done by many world class university.

11) Encouraged to have a strong and updated internet presence to boost visibility of the universities. UI and UNN websites looks like junk.

12) Encourage collaboration with research universities in developing nations and developed countries(dealing with issues pertaining to developing nations). This would also increase the chances of getting millions of dollars in grant from foreign organisations.

13) Individual FG ministeries should recommend research work to the university of choice as they deem fit. E.g Rice production in Nigeria with genetic modification(to carry b-carotene for vit A production) aimed at eradicating commonplace blindness in Northern Nigeria. In the event the project is too costly for govt or the university, the university having requisite facility, infrastructure, processes and international collaborations would be able to attract billions of dollars from generous foreign organisations. Case study; Oxford currently has a 5 bill USD grant from Gates foundation to develop C4 rice.

13) Govt set up an apolitical technical committee and assess the performance of these universities across their core mandate, research relevance, international outlook and rankings(especially Times and ARWU)



So that would be 150 billion more for our flagship universities. Considering the fact that the Nigerian senate takes just about that amount as its annual budget then that shouldn't be too hard for Nigeria to afford.

While I support your arguments generally, there are other areas that can jeopardize those beautiful points of yours:
1. The need to block leakages. Funding an inefficient system further is akin to proportionately increasing the problems of that system associated to available funds ( theft, mismanagement) .
2. What happens to the graduates of those 'great' schools after they end up being the main beneficiary of these huge funding? Do they just walk out and decide they don't want to practice their highly subsidized skills or must they repay the input in their training process by not only working but practicing what they studied.
3. how should the selection process for prospective subsidy beneficiaries in the above bullet be structured? Should we keep allowing people with just certificates in mind to 'sort' their way into such system or we should maintain a strict merit based admission process that doesn't force less attractive courses on people?


These are some points I think we must consider in the long run. We can't just keep promoting the mob mentality and ignore the effect of education on the system funding that education.

CodeTemplar:
While I support your arguments generally, there are other areas that can jeopardize those beautiful points of yours:
1. The need to block leakages. Funding an inefficient system further is akin to proportionately increasing the problems of that system associated to available funds ( theft, mismanagement) .
2. What happens to the graduates of those 'great' schools after they end up being the main beneficiary of these huge funding? Do they just walk out and decide they don't want to practice their highly subsidized skills or must they repay the input in their training process by not only working but practicing what they studied.
3. how should the selection process for prospective subsidy beneficiaries in the above bullet be structured? Should we keep allowing people with just certificates in mind to 'sort' their way into such system or we should maintain a strict merit based admission process that doesn't force less attractive courses on people?


These are some points I think we must consider in the long run. We can't just keep promoting the mob mentality and ignore the effect of education on the system funding that education.

You have valid questions. I hope it's workable tho Nigeria needs it

These are opinions that could take us light miles into the future, there are many more I have carefully scripted and waiting patiently for a day I may be able to contribute my quota to this fast crumbling system. The present crop of leaders don't just see the need to savage education in the land, apparently for political gains. They know these things too but the will to implement them isn't just there.

Watch how the mods avoid this thread like a plague or even delete my comment and ban me afterwards.

Basic123:

At least,the OP back up his claim with relevant data.
You, you just talk out of hate, jealousy and bigotry simple!

That guy fit break bottle on top the matter o He takes it personally

writerights:


That guy fit break bottle on top the matter o He takes it personally

Which guy? You are not as smart as I thought. All the data I need to back up my claims are already in the OP so I am disappointed with your comments. May be the fool you supported should have asked for the exact data I used since he couldn't assimilate OP's data.

CodeTemplar:
Which guy? You are not as smart as I thought. All the data I need to back up my claims are already in the OP so I am disappointed with your comments. May be the fool you supported should have asked for the exact data I used since he couldn't assimilate OP's data.

What business have I with you? I really don't wanna join issues with you, take your trouble elsewhere. Bye.