Obafemi Awolowo Tops the 2013 Nigerian University Rankings

Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, has ben ranked as the best University in Nigeria and 8th in Africa, for the second year running by Webometrics. The institution had emerged in 2012 as the best in the country and 14th in Africa, by Cybermetrics Lab of Spain, a world-renowned Research Council.

Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, the Public Relations Officer of OAU, stated that the recognition implied that education was advancing in Nigeria.

“In further confirmation of its academic excellence and intellectual supremacy over and above other universities and institutions of higher learning, the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has, again, been rated the first and the best university in Nigeria and 8th in Africa,” he said.

“New webometric ranking released today, Monday, 5th August, 2013, by the Cybermetrics Lab of Spain and circulated round the world, moved the Obafemi Awolowo University higher on the ladder from number 14 to number 8 in Africa. This is a development that academic analysts and managements of universities in Africa have hailed as a monumental leap for educational advancement in Nigeria. This is the first time that a Nigerian university would be so ranked consecutively,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bamitale Omole, added: “Only a focused leadership, which is the hallmark of his management team, can produce such a spectacular feat. Federal Government must not relent in its efforts to improve the funding of education, particularly for the universities, so that the increased penchant for travelling abroad to undergo academic programmes that could be taught better by our lecturers here in Nigeria would be a thing of the past.”