ILORIN, NIGERIA– The University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) has emerged as the Nigerian university with the greatest rating in research quality in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.
UNILORIN scored 69.4 percent in the research quality classification, the greatest rating taped by any Nigerian university ranked in the most recent edition of the global ranking.
The 2026 ranking was released on September 30, 2026, at the World Academic Summit hosted by the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
UNILORIN records greatest performance in research study quality
According to a statement by the university’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Kunle Akogun, the ranking examines universities throughout 5 broad pillars: teaching, research study environment, research study quality, worldwide outlook and market.
The statement estimated the University Ranking Implementation Task Supervisor, Prof. Suleiman Folorunso Ambali, as stating research study quality stayed UNILORIN’s strongest location.
“Research study quality is UNILORIN’s greatest grass, and the University aims to transform it into larger international recognition and work towards the 801– 1000 band in the next edition,” Ambali stated.
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The university said an analysis of the most recent outcomes showed that it had actually moved from the 1201– 1500 band in the previous ranking to the 1001– 1200 band.
Akogun stated the advancement put UNILORIN among seven Nigerian universities ranked within the global top 1,200.
“Our University is now one of the 7 Nigerian universities in the worldwide top 1,200,” he said.
University records greater research rating than 3 institutions
Akogun added that UNILORIN tape-recorded a higher research study quality rating than the University of Lagos, Bayero University, Kano, and the University of Ibadan.
According to him, research study quality accounts for 30 per cent of the overall ranking score and measures the extent to which a university’s research is pointed out by scholars internationally.
The performance for that reason positions research output and its worldwide academic impact at the centre of UNILORIN’s newest improvement in the THE rankings.
Vice-Chancellor attributes the efficiency to continual research study.
Responding to the advancement, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, said the ranking reflected continual research study efforts by members of the university community.
“This outcome is not unintentional but a reflection of years of patient, disciplined scholarship by colleagues who publish work that the world reads and points out,” Egbewole said.
The Vice-Chancellor thanked lecturers, researchers, postgraduate supervisors and students whose work, he stated, contributed to the university’s performance in the most recent ranking.
The university’s most current performance comes as it seeks to construct on its research study strength and enhance its position in subsequent editions of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.