FG Targets Global Recognition for Nigerian Schools With Compulsory Tertiary Ranking

The Federal Government is seeking to push more Nigerian tertiary institutions towards global recognition by making participation in the national ranking exercise compulsory.

The policy covers universities, polytechnics and colleges of education and introduces a unified approach to measuring performance across the sector.

Education Minister Tunji Alausa announced the expansion in Abuja on Tuesday during a meeting with the Nigerian Universities Ranking Advisory Committee.

The committee has now become the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee, reflecting its expanded mandate.

Alausa said the ranking framework would promote quality, accountability and institutional performance while giving schools benchmarks for measuring progress.

He also said the Federal Ministry of Education would provide funding, policy direction and capacity-building support.

The government expects TETFund to fund the ranking exercise.

The university ranking exercise for 2026/2027 will begin in September, while the new committee will decide when polytechnics and colleges of education will be incorporated.

The policy comes as more Nigerian universities seek recognition in international rankings.

But global competitiveness depends on more than a ranking position.

International ranking systems commonly consider factors such as research output, citations, academic reputation, international outlook and institutional resources. Nigerian institutions continue to face challenges in several of these areas.

The Federal Government says the new framework will help institutions understand where they are performing well and where improvements are required.

The Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, said extending the exercise to both public and private institutions would help establish minimum standards across the sector.

The policy could therefore give government a clearer picture of institutional performance beyond the universities that traditionally dominate ranking discussions.

However, ranking should be treated as a measurement tool rather than an end in itself.

For Nigerian institutions to move higher internationally, ranking results would need to be followed by stronger research funding, better infrastructure, improved staff capacity and support for innovation.

The government’s stated ambition is to make more Nigerian institutions globally competitive.

The difficult part will be converting that ambition into sustained institutional improvement.