Top 10 State Universities in Nigeria 2023

Could you be a Nigerian student, the typical kid of an average family who desires quality education in a Nigerian university? Or perhaps you cannot afford the expensive foreign universities, or the equally high-end private ones available right here on home soil. Are there state universities in Nigeria with a meaningful pedigree, the ability to deliver quality training (and facilities perhaps) to students? And can their lecturers or even students compete with their federal counterparts? In this article, we will expose to you the top 10 state universities in Nigeria.

State Universities in Nigeria: An Overview 

A state university as the name implies, is a university established and mainly funded by the government of the host state. Also, the tuition fees paid by students in addition to state funding, aid these state universities financially. In addition, they receive donations from philanthropists and their wealthy alumni. Research grants, as well as royalties (from inventions) and rents from hosted business entities are another source of funds. Thus we can safely conclude that besides being funded by the federal government, federal universities also get funded in roughly the same way. For the record, state universities are designed to be cheaper than federal universities, but that has seriously not been the case in Nigeria. 

Also note that the graduates and lecturers of these state universities are accorded the same status as their federal counterparts.

Problems With University Funding in Nigeria

The amount and extent to which both state and federal universities receive the much-needed funding from the government remains a subject of controversy for decades now. Hence, the situation has resulted in several industrial strikes by the ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities). And their fellow academic unions of polytechnics and colleges of education are not left out. All this in a bid to re-negotiate for better treatment and a higher allocation from the government. These industrial strikes have had a huge economic impact and caused setbacks to the students, their parents and the nation at large.

It is noteworthy that the government allocation for the entire education sector in Nigeria stood at a meager 5.39% of the 2022 budget. Which of course is ridiculously low. Thus, we can see clearly here that the Nigerian educational sector receives such poor attention from the federal (and state) government. It has been like a recurring decimal for many years now.

State Universities in Nigeria: General Statistics

Presently, there are a total of 59 state universities in Nigeria listed by the National Universities Commission on their website. Of that number, 57 of them are fully established as at the end of the year 2022. There are also some specialized state universities, listed below.

State Universities of Technology(13):

• Cross River State University of Technology, Calabar
• Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu
• Delta University of Science and Technology, Ozoro
• Kano University of Science & Technology, Wudil
• Ondo State University of Science and Technology Okitipupa
• Bamidele Olumilua University of Science and Technology Ikere, Ekiti State
• Oyo State Technical University Ibadan
• Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero
• Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso
• Lagos State University of Science and Technology Ikorodu
• Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology Abeokuta
• Confluence University of Science and Technology Osara, Kogi
• Gombe State University of Science and Technology

State University of Agriculture (1) : . 

University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Umuagwo, Imo State

State Universities of Medical Science (4):

• Ondo State University of Medical Sciences
• Bayelsa Medical University
• King David Umahi University of Medical Sciences, Uburu, Ebonyi State
• State University of Medical and Applied Sciences Igbo-Eno (SUMAS)

For a comprehensive list of all state universities in Nigeria as at January 2023, please check this post or the NUC site.

State Universities in Nigeria: 2022 Rankings

Now above all, which are the best state universities in Nigeria as at the end of the academic year 2022? The famous Times Higher Education (THE) website in its latest world universities rankings, listed only 48 Nigerian universities as at October 2022. It claims that no state university attained the top ten universities in Nigeria; but there were definitely state universities in the top 60. We also investigated alternative world university rankings to obtain a more comprehensive assessment. Namely:

• the US News Best Global Universities (October 2022), 
• the Scimago Institutions Rankings (April 2022), 
• URAP World Rankings (November 2022), 
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities (July 2022), and 
• the UniversityGuru website. 

From the results, we extracted a list of the top 10 state universities in Nigeria as at the end of 2022. And Placing the national ranking and the global ranking side by side, we obtained the following results.

Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos state: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: 14th
• Student satisfaction: 4.1 / 5.0
• The World university Rankings: {None} 
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: national 25 / global 569
• URAP World Ranking: national 13 / global 2638
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 20 / global 3432

Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye Ogun state: Statistics

• Overall national Ranking: 22nd
• Student satisfaction: {Not available}
• The World university Rankings: {None}  
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: national 15 / global 550
• URAP World Ranking: {None} 
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 18 / global 3297

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho Oyo state: Statistics

• Overall national Ranking: No. 24
• Student satisfaction: 4.2 / 5.0
• The World university Rankings: national 11 /global 1501 
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: national 21 / global 557
• URAP World Ranking: national  / global 
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 15 / global 3143

Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: No. 25
• Student satisfaction: {Nota available}
• The World university Rankings: {None}
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: national 24 / global 567
• URAP World Ranking: {None}
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 16 / global 3193

Kwara State University, Ilorin: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: No. 28
• Student satisfaction: {Not available}
• The World university Rankings: {None}
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: national 28 / global 578
• URAP World Ranking: {None}
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 24 / global 3581

Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko Ondo State: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: No. 29
• Student satisfaction: 4.0 / 5.0
• The World university Rankings: {Not available} 
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: national 29 / global 579 
• URAP World Ranking: {Not available}
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 13 / global 3023

Osun State University, Osogbo: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: No. 30
• Student satisfaction: {Not available}
• The World university Rankings: {none}
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: {None} 
• URAP World Ranking: {None}
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 34 / global 4325

Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: No. 32
• Student satisfaction: 4.3 / 5.0
• The World university Rankings: {None}
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: {None}
• URAP World Ranking: {None}
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 37 / global 4792

Cross River University of Technology, Calabar: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: No 33
• Student satisfaction: 4.1 / 5.0
• The World university Rankings: {None}  
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: {None}
• URAP World Ranking: {None}
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 42 / global 5177

Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero-Zuru: Statistics

• Overall national ranking: No 38
• Student satisfaction: 4.1 / 5.0
• The World university Rankings: {None}  
• Scimago Institutions Rankings: {None} 
• URAP World Ranking: {None}
• Webometrics Ranking Web of Universities: national 57 / global 6941

About Post Author

Omolola Akinyemi

A Computer Science graduate of UNILAG, I hail from Ekiti state of Nigeria. An astute teacher, learner & admin assistant of many years experience. I love technology, innovation, and Nature. A problem solving mentality is important to me. The future is only seconds away, and I believe I can define the future now. You can also.

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