The University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, has been rated the best of the nine Nigerian universities mentioned among the 62 institutions in Africa recognised for their research development.
Also, the medical school of the institution, University College Hospital, was rated among the nine best in the 2011 SCimago Institutions Ranking World Reports.
The ranking was the outcome of an exercise conducted at the SCimago Laboratory, Spain, released on its website www. scimagoir.com.
South Africa with 20 of its institutions listed on the best research ranking led other African nations, followed by Nigeria with nine and Tunisia with eight.
All the nine listed Nigerian institutions are owned by the Federal Government as no state-owned or private university is among the institutions ranked by SIR World Reports.
The other eight institutions rated in order of performance are Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State; University of Lagos and University of Benin.
Others are the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University College Hospital, Ibadan; Federal University of Technology, Akure and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The release, which is the third edition of the SCimago Institutions Rankings, is one of the most comprehensive research ranking of universities with over 3,042 institutions from all over the world grouped into five institutional sectors.
The ranking was based on six selected indicators seeking to reveal the main aspects of research size, performance, impact and internalisation at worldwide research institutions.
The SIR World Reports include institutions whose scholars that published in reputable international journal, exceed certain thresholds and are cited in Elsevier-Scopus database.
Responding to the report, the Vice-Chancellor, UI, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said it was a good development for the institution and a pointer to the fact that the university’s rating as the best in the country by the webometric ranking last year was not a fluke.
“The report is heartwarming but that is not where we want to stop, we are taking UI back to where it rightly belongs. You will recall that there was a time that we were rated as one of the best five in the Commonwealth, our focus is not just to be one of the best in the Commonwealth but in the world,” he said.
Also, the FUNAAB’s Coordinator of Webometrics, Dr. O. Folorunso, said the report would form part of the criteria to be used in the January 2012 World Webometrics Ranking of universities which attracts 10 per cent of the total scores.
The FUNAAB Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwafemi Balogun, in a statement, expressed his delight at the development with a further assurance that the university, which placed ninth in Nigeria, and 56th on the list, would not relent in its pursuit of global excellence.