Covenant University Ota and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, have emerged as Nigeria’s top performers in the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025.

In the top five spots are Covenant University, ABU Zaria, University of Ibadan (UI), University of Lagos (UNILAG), and Bayero University Kano (BUK).

This year, the organisation said it ranked more than 2,000 institutions from 115 countries and territories.

On the global stage, Oxford holds on to the top spot for the ninth consecutive year, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) rises to second place, overtaking Stanford, which drops to sixth.

Covenant University, which occupied the top spot in Nigeria and ninth in Africa, was in the 800–1000 range, while ABU ranked between 1001–1200th and emerged top in research outputs.

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In the new rankings, the number of Nigerian universities in the top spot decreased for the third consecutive year, from three in 2023 to two in 2024 and one in the latest ranking.

Below is the new ranking according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025:

– Covenant University (801-1000)

– Ahmadu Bello University (1001–1200)

– Landmark University (1001–1200)

– University of Ibadan (1001–1200)

– University of Lagos (1001–1200)

– Bayero University (1201–1500)

– Federal University of Technology Akure (1201–1500)

– Federal University of Technology, Minna (1201–1500)

– University of Benin (1201–1500)

– University of Ilorin (1201–1500)