UI Retains Nigeria’s Top Spot In Research Ranking

Amarachi Ihesiulo

October 3, 2026
3 min read
University of Ibadan UI

The University of Ibadan UI has retained its position as Nigeria’s leading research university in the latest AD Scientific Index, maintaining its place at the top of the country’s research rankings.

The latest edition of the index was refreshed on October 1, 2026, with Nigeria ranked 48th among 221 countries and third in Africa.

The ranking included 384 Nigerian institutions and 53,580 scientists, highlighting the growing scale of research activity being captured in international academic databases.

According to the findings, the University of Ibadan ranked 889th globally among nearly 19,800 universities, placing it within the top 4.5 per cent of universities worldwide.

UI was also identified as the only Nigerian university in the global top 1,000 in the latest ranking.

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, retained second position nationally, while other universities featuring prominently among Nigeria’s leading research institutions included the University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Ilorin, Ahmadu Bello University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Bayero University.

Federal universities dominated the national table, accounting for at least eight of Nigeria’s top 10 institutions in the ranking.

The result further highlights the continued importance of research output, citation impact and the international visibility of Nigerian academics in assessing institutional research performance.

The AD Scientific Index uses researchers’ scientific productivity and citation indicators in compiling its rankings. The latest figures therefore provide a picture of the research influence of Nigerian universities based on the researchers and scholarly output indexed by the platform.

The University of Ibadan’s performance also reflects the institution’s longstanding role in Nigeria’s higher education and research landscape.

Beyond institutional rankings, Nigerian researchers also recorded notable individual performances in the latest index.

The ranking identified University of Ibadan researcher Mayowa Owolabi as Nigeria’s most-cited researcher, with 257,748 citations, while Shafiu Mohammed of Ahmadu Bello University was ranked second nationally with 242,300 citations.

Olayinka Ilesanmi of the University of Ibadan was listed third among Nigeria’s most-cited researchers.

Sixteen of Nigeria’s top 25 most-cited researchers were affiliated with federal universities, while the University of Ibadan accounted for five of those researchers.

Nigeria’s third-place position in Africa and the presence of a Nigerian university in the global top 1,000 underline the country’s research capacity, while the distribution of highly cited scholars across several institutions points to a broader research ecosystem.

The ranking also places renewed attention on the need for Nigerian universities to strengthen research funding, international collaboration, publication quality and citation impact.