The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta established as a specialized university on January 1, 1988 with a tripodal mandate of Teaching, Research and Extension Services has attained another feat, emerging as the only third generation and specialized university in Nigeria conspicuous on the Academic Ranking of World Universities. The University joined the league of the premier university, University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University, ile-Ife.
Academic Research of World Universities (ARWU) is one of the most-respected ranking schemes in the world using six objective indicators to rank world universities which include the number of Alumni and staff members winning nobel prizes and field medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Clarivate, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded, and Social Sciences Citation Index in the Web of Science, and per capita performance of a University.
ValidViewNetwork reports that ARWU which started in 2003 rank more than 2500 universities every year and the best 1000 are published.
According to Dr. Fred Mensah who is a member of the Board of Higher Education Observatory for Africa, the dividend of the NUC-led effort is the top-ranking of Nigerian Universities in the Academic Ranking of World Universities which was released on August 15, 2022.
In the ranking for this year, Harvard University tops the ranking list for the 20th year while Stanford University remains at the number two seat and Massachusetts Institute of Technology rises one position to the number 3.Other Top 10 universities are Cambridge (4th), Berkeley (5th), Princeton (6th), Oxford (7th), Columbia (8th), Caltech (9th), and Chicago (10th).”
The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta alongside the premier university, University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife have been commended for the attainment of global recognition on the ranking.
The statement affirmed that “for the first time in the history of ARWU which started in 2003, University of Ibadan appeared in the 800-901 band. “In the 2022 GRAS ranking which was also released on Monday, Nigeria featured as follows: in Veterinary Sciences, the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, emerged in the 201 to 300 group; in Dentistry and Oral Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University was also in the 201 to 300 group; while in Psychology, University of Nigeria emerged in the 401 to 500 group”.
The statement by Dr. Fred Mensah further indicated that the Chairman of Governing Board of Higher Education Observatory for Africa, Emeritus Professor Peter Okebukola, has applauded the efforts of the National Universities Commission in implementing its 2021-2027 strategic plan which produced the results.
According to him “The chairman of the governing board of HEOFA, Okebukola, congratulated the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, as well as the authorities of the University of Ibadan, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and Obafemi Awolowo University for this feat.“With the 2021-2027 strategic plan on ranking and the 2019-2023 blueprint on the Rapid Revitalisation of University Education in Nigeria being implemented by the NUC, the world of ranking will quake with the huge appearance of Nigerian universities in the top 200 in the world before 2030.“I urge all stakeholders to be part of the provision of the enabling environment of better resourcing of our universities, better welfare scheme for staff to bolster motivation and enhance commitment to quality teaching and research and all in the context of a stable academic calendar in order to achieve our 2030 goal of top ranking in global league tables,”
ValidViewNetwork reports that the good news has been a source of joy to the students, graduates and other stakeholders in FUNAAB.
ValidViewNetwork noted that the good news is a good parting gift to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kolawole Salako who is completing his tenure soon.
ValidViewNetwork 2022
