A glorious salute to all patriotic Nigerians. In our thousands, we believe our educational system can still deliver great dividends in Nigeria of the nearest future. And it is very attainable in spite of the challenges in Nigeria’s educational sector. Thus as a matter of necessity, we are highlighting the top 10 federal universities in Nigeria for the year 2024. This will better inform our eager Nigerian parents and students in search of quality education, for them to take note of.

In spite of many challenges that plague Nigeria’s educational system, there is still hope for students who cannot afford private universities. We have outlined the top 10 federal universities in Nigeria for 2024 below, for their outstanding research and upgraded curricula.

Best Universities in Nigeria (Times Higher Education sub-Saharan Rankings)

The number of Nigerian schools (right from nursery level up to the tertiary institutions) have enormously increased. This is in a bid to accommodate our huge population of youths – one of the largest in the world. But there are challenges. Underfunding and inadequate modern learning facilities are a present problem in our government-owned learning institutions. And lecturers attest to working harder than their pay. The schools are also working hard to update their curricula to meet the needs of the modern workplace.

For this reason, numerous private learning institutions (including private universities) have emerged in an attempt to bridge the knowledge and infrastructure gap.  And we know it is at a significantly higher cost to Nigerian parents and their wards. But over the years, the learned community supervising tertiary institutions in Nigeria have not abandoned their quest to invest quality education in Nigerian graduates.

Statistics obtained from the globally-renowned Times Higher Education (THE) website reveal the top 10 federal universities in Nigeria (as of October 2023). Some of them have consistently improved over the years, thus climbing higher on the ladder of the top 10 performers. But some federal universities have joined the top 10 quite unexpectedly. The list was culled from the  comprehensive list of all the universities in sub-Saharan African countries, and their ranks in terms of performance.

Federal Universities in Nigeria: 2023/24 Rankings

1. Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 26

2. Nnamdi Azikiwe University

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 31

3. University of Ibadan

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 36

4. Obafemi Awolowo University

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 39

5. Ahmadu Bello University

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 46

6. University of Benin

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 47

7. Federal University of Kashere

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 51-60

8. Federal University Lokoja

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 51-60

9. University of Port Harcourt

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 51-60

10. Alex Ekwueme University, Ndufu-Alike

Overall ranking (Sub-Saharan): 71+

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Some briefs on the history and structure of these universities are given below. They may prove somewhat useful to students who aspire to study in any of these federal universities.

Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta

The Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) was formally created in 1988, where it began its journey on the grounds of Abeokuta Grammar School. It is one of the three federal universities of agriculture in Nigeria. At the inception, it was set up as University of Technology Abeokuta in 1983. Then it did a change of name into College of Science and Technology Abeokuta in 1984, during which it was merged with the University of Lagos. By 1988, it received full status as an autonomous university of agriculture.

It finally moved in 1997 to its permanent site on the Abeokuta-Ibadan road in Ogun state. Today the federal university is a public research university with ten colleges:

• Food Science & Human Ecology
• Agricultural Management & Rural Development
• Physical Sciences
• Biological Sciences
• Veterinary Medicine
• Plant Science & Crop Production
• Animal Sciences & Livestock Production
• Environmental Resource Management
• Engineering
• Management Sciences

It offers 46 courses that cut across graduate, postgraduate, Masters and Ph.D. programmes. It also boasts of a 1000-capacity central library, several institutes, research centres, resource centers, Distance Learning center, and a zoo park.

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK or NAU) is the offspring of the now defunct Anambra State University of Technology (ASUTECH) which was established in 1980. ASUTECH was split into two as a result of the dividing of old Anambra state into Anambra and Enugu states. Subsequently the Awka and Nnewi campuses of ASUTECH were merged together in 1991, and it became a federal university in 1992.

The federal school now has four campuses – a main campus in Awka, one in Nnewi, one in Agulu, and one in Ifite-Ogwuari, all in Anambra state.

In all, UNIZIK has fourteen faculties:

• Biosciences
• Basic Medical Sciences
• Environmental Sciences
• Health Sciences & Technology
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Medicine
• Engineering
• Agriculture
• Social Sciences
• Management Sciences
• Law
• Arts and
• Education.

Each campus has a library; but the main library is located in Awka campus (Professor Festus Aghagbo Nwako Library). Additionally, there is a medical library for the College of Health Sciences in Nnewi Campus.

University of Ibadan

The oldest university in Nigeria, University of Ibadan (UI) was established in Ibadan, Oyo state in 1948 as a College extension of the University of London. It became an independent institution, a full university in 1962. At present, University of Ibadan runs 92 academic courses (both undergraduate and postgraduate) organized under seventeen faculties namely:

• Education
• Law
• Economics & Management Sciences
• Science
• Basic Medical Sciences
• Clinical Sciences
• Public Health
• Dentistry
• Renewable Natural Resources
• Social Sciences
• Pharmacy
• Arts
• Agriculture
• Veterinary Medicine
• Technology
• Environmental Design & Management
• Renewable Natural Resources
• Environmental Design and Management and
• Multidisciplinary Studies

UI also has over 10 other academic units (comprising of institutes and centers of academic research and learning), and a School of Business. The school’s central library (Kenneth Dike Library)  can accommodate over 1,250 seaters, and over 700,000 volumes of information. It boasts of 15 student halls of residence.

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

Established in 1961 as the University of Ife), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) commenced operation in Ibadan in October 1962. It was later moved to Ile-Ife. OAU now runs both undergraduate and postgraduate courses organized into 13 faculties, that oversee over 60 departments altogether. These courses cut across disciplines such as medical sciences, engineering, technology, humanities, arts, natural sciences, and social sciences. The school also has three colleges (Postgraduate College, College of Health Sciences, and College of Education).

Besides these, the school boasts of:

• several institutes, research centers and training centers,
• a fully-computerized, 2500-seater central library (Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library) with a huge collection of books, journals, and audio-visual materials,
• a well-developed Information Technology and Communications Unit (INTECU) and VSAT internet infrastructure
• a medical and health center that runs 24 hours, and
• a university teaching hospital.

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) was established in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. To date, ABU is widely acclaimed to be the largest university in sub-Saharan Africa (in terms of land area and physical structures). It has a main campus at Samaru, a satellite campus at Kongo, and a pre-degree school at Funtua. Altogether, ABU has 12 faculties (distributed between Samaru and Kongo campuses) that run 82 academic courses, namely:

• Physical sciences
• Life sciences
• Social sciences
• Arts and Language
• Education
• Environmental design
• Engineering
• Medical sciences
• Veterinary medicine
• Agricultural sciences
• Law and
• Administration

The school also has:

• a Postgraduate school,
• research centers,
• five institutes
• six specialized centers,
• one Division of Agricultural Colleges,
• a large university teaching hospital, and
• extension and consultancy services (to serve the wider public).

The school’s main library (Kashim Ibrahim Library) has well over 1.2 million books and other study materials.

University of Benin 

University of Benin (UNIBEN) in Edo state, which started out as an institute of technology, came into existence in 1970. Presently it has two campuses that run fifteen faculties, comprising of the following:

• Agriculture
• Arts
• Veterinary Medicine
• Social Sciences
• Life Sciences
• Environmental Sciences
• Management Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Law
• Medicine
• Dentistry
• Education
• Engineering
• Pharmacy

UNIBEN also boasts of:

• 5 Colleges (College of Education Warri; College of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, PTI Campus; College of Education Mosogar; Delta State; Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba; and Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka),
• a large university teaching hospital,
• a College of Medical Sciences running three Schools (Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, and Basic Medical Sciences),
• School of Science, PTI Campus
• several institutes and specialized centers,
• a large central library (John Harris Library), and
• twelve faculty libraries.

UNIBEN is reputed to be among the leading public research universities in Nigeria today.

Federal University of Kashere

Federal University of Kashere (FUKashere) in Gombe state was established in 2010.

The school now runs 6 faculties and 2 Schools offering 50 academic courses. FUKashere’s faculties are listed below:

• Agriculture
• Education
• Humanities
• Sciences
• Management Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Postgraduate Studies
• Preliminary and General studies
• a (proposed) College of Medical Sciences

Federal University Lokoja

Federal University of Lokoja (FUL), located in the confluence town of Lokoja in Kogi state, was established in 2011.

The university now runs 5 faculties and a College of Health Sciences. The faculties comprise of:

• Sciences
• Arts
• Social Science
• Management Science
• Education
  

University of Port Harcourt

University of Port Harcourt was established as University College, Port Harcourt in 1975. It was upgraded to full university status in 1977. The school has two campuses; one in Aluu and the other in Choba.

The university now runs 14 faculties and 2 Colleges comprising of:

• Faculty of Humanities
• Faculty of Social Sciences
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Management Sciences
• Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Dentistry
• Faculty of Computing
• Faculty of Clinical Science 
• Faculty of Agriculture
• Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Communication and Media Studies
• College of Health Sciences
• College of Continuing Education

Altogether, UNIPORT offers 78 academic courses.

Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike

Alex Ekwueme Federal University (AE-FUNA) is located in Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi state. Established in 2011, it was initially named Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo until it was renamed in 2018.

The University boasts of 12 faculties and a College of Medical Sciences, that oversee 50 departments and 58 academic programs.  The school’s faculties are listed below:

• Agriculture
• Basic Medical Sciences
• Education
• Engineering
• Technology
• Humanities
• Management Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Biological Sciences
• Environmental Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Law

The school also has:

• a School of Postgraduate Studies, and
• a university library with 5 departments and internet infrastructure.