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Univ. of Ibadan and the Top 200 Global Ranking
By
Phil Tam-Al Alalibo
If you speak to graduates
of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s "Harvard" and its premier university, they will insist
that their alma mater is the best in Nigeria, yet the best does not even scrap
the bottom of the barrel in the new 2006 global top 200 universities ranking (see
ranking below) that has seen Harvard University occupy the top spot since its
inception about three years ago. As I glanced at the list, I noticed,
sorrowfully, with abundant shame, that African universities were conspicuously
missing from the ranking. Why? It is very doubtful that even if the rankings
were to go to the top 1000 universities in the world, one would find any
Nigerian universities. Perhaps, we may have to wait for a top 10,000
universities ranking (in the world) before we may find a Nigerian university occupying
the 9999th spot, the University of Ibadan, just slightly ahead of the University of Somalia or is it Mogadishu? But even
that may be a long stretch.
It behooves the mind that a
continent of 650 million, the second largest and the richest in the world,
cannot afford to have a single university in the elite group. If not in
Nigeria, the alleged giant of Africa, how about South Africa or Egypt, the
cradle of civilization? All those universities in Africa we heard of as
children, what happened to them? The Makarere University in Uganda, University
of Ghana, etc, where Africa's founding fathers were trained why have they failed us at this moment? But there is a reason
why the University of Ibadan, the once noted university of fame and academic
excellence that had produced world-class scholars like Nobel prizing winning
Wole Soyinka is not amongst the best; years of decadence, neglect and
governmental misadministration has stripped it of its fine standing. Today,
graduates of this institution can’t even construct a meaningful sentence.
That’s why companies in Nigeria seek foreign graduates for employment and where
those graduates are in short supply, the local graduates are forced to retrain,
after four to five years at the university.
The
decline of the Univ. of
Ibadan and the entire educational system in Nigeria captures all that
is wrong
with Nigeria and is a microscopic representation of societal and
systemic rot. This
university for example, that once attracted foreign students from all
walks of
life, was truly untouchable. Its medical program could not be bested in
Africa
as its graduates could be found in top medical institutions in the
world and its theatre arts program from where the likes of Reuben Abati
graduated was
second to none. Indeed, the superfluity of intellect on this campus
above and
beyond all campuses in Nigeria scaled comparison – we are well aware of
world-class scholars like Prof. Tekena Tamuno, a historian who later
became the
Vice Chancellor (VC) of this premier university.
Then of course, the
veritable
Zoologist, the late Prof. FMA Ukoli (rest in peace) of the University
of London pedigree whose
vast well of knowledge has transposed countless generations of Univ. of
Ibadan
students into successful academicians and scholars. It was no wonder he
was
tapped to be the first VC of Delta State University at Abraka, leading
that
institution ably through its growing pains. In one of his many
publications, he noted well the factors for the chronic retardation of the Nigerian
educational system - the "bleeding factors" of intellect and resources.
And not to forget Prof. David-West
of Michigan State, Yale and McGill University (Canada) extraction, a
world
acclaimed virologist of enormous eminence enhancing the fecundity of
the
pedantic endeavor.
With such Herculean
intellectual presence the University of Ibadan has no reason not to be in the
global reckoning, it has no reason whatsoever to bask in the postern of such
world measurement. But we are reminded that anything Nigerian must be
synonymous with failure and that is where we are. Invariably, Ghana and South
Africa have become the favorite destinations of Nigerian students who cannot
afford European or North America education. Today, rather than Ghanaian
students rushing to Nigeria as was the case in time past, the antithesis is the case as about
5,000 Nigerian students are currently enrolled at Ghana’s three main campuses. In Ghana and South Africa, at least, they
are assured of completion of studies in a timely manner and some measure of quality
education devoid of cultism and sordid undertakings that have encumbered Nigerian
education.
The irony is eternally
intriguing that while Nigerian education is seemingly worthless, products of
that same educational system are being ferried away by foreign institutions.
Today, there is hardly any campus in the US that does not have a Nigerian on
its faculty no matter its remote location. Even in the backwoods of the
Appalachian they can be found. They can be found in every state, bagging awards
in research and science. While Nigerian campuses have become a cesspool for
prostitution, drugs, thuggery, cultuism, etc, there appears to be hope in the rise of
private institutions most of which thus far, have been devoid of these vices.
In these private universities such as Bells University owned by President
Obasanjo, ABTI-American University owned by the vice president and Igbinedion
University owned by the Edo State governor and his family, one can find some
measure of hope, some promise of education, clean hostels (unlike the ones in
the public universities which had become breeding grounds for an assortment of
diseases) and clean bathrooms free of maggots and other creepy creatures. In these
universities, Nigerian students can smile again, at least for now, if they can
afford it.
____________________________________
Author can be reached at
alalibo@gmail.com
THES - QS World
University Rankings 2006 Top 200
Click
here for more information on the THES - QS World University Rankings.
|
2006
RANK |
2005
RANK |
NAME |
COUNTRY | |
1 |
1 |
Harvard University |
United States | |
2 |
3 |
University of Cambridge |
United Kingdom | |
3 |
4 |
University of Oxford |
United Kingdom | |
4= |
2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
United States | |
4= |
7 |
Yale University |
United States | |
6 |
5 |
Stanford University |
United States | |
7 |
8 |
California Institute of Technology |
United States | |
8 |
6 |
University of California, Berkeley |
United States | |
9 |
13 |
Imperial College London |
United Kingdom | |
10 |
9 |
Princeton University |
United States | |
11 |
17 |
University of Chicago |
United States | |
12 |
20 |
Columbia University |
United States | |
13 |
11 |
Duke University |
United States | |
14 |
15 |
Beijing University |
China | |
15 |
14 |
Cornell University |
United States | |
16 |
23 |
Australian National University |
Australia | |
17 |
11 |
London School of Economics and Political Science |
United Kingdom | |
18 |
24 |
Ecole Normale Supérieure |
France | |
19= |
22 |
National University of Singapore |
Singapore | |
19= |
16 |
University of Tokyo |
Japan | |
21 |
24 |
McGill University |
Canada | |
22 |
19 |
University of Melbourne |
Australia | |
23 |
27 |
Johns Hopkins University |
United States | |
24 |
21 |
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich |
Switzerland | |
25 |
28 |
University College London |
United Kingdom | |
26 |
32 |
University of Pennsylvania |
United States | |
27 |
29 |
University of Toronto |
Canada | |
28 |
62 |
Tsing Hua University |
China | |
29= |
31 |
Kyoto University |
Japan | |
29= |
36 |
University of Michigan |
United States | |
31 |
37 |
University of California, Los Angeles |
United States | |
32 |
26 |
University of Texas at Austin |
United States | |
33= |
30 |
University of Edinburgh |
United Kingdom | |
33= |
41 |
University of Hong Kong |
Hong Kong | |
35= |
44 |
Carnegie Mellon University |
United States | |
35= |
38 |
University of Sydney |
Australia | |
37 |
10 |
École Polytechnique |
France | |
38 |
33 |
Monash University |
Australia | |
39 |
88 |
University of Geneva |
Switzerland | |
40 |
35 |
University of Manchester |
United Kingdom | |
41 |
40 |
University of New South Wales |
Australia | |
42 |
46 |
Northwestern University |
United States | |
43 |
56 |
New York University |
United States | |
44 |
42 |
University of California, San Diego |
United States | |
45 |
47 |
University of Queensland |
Australia | |
46= |
52 |
University of Auckland |
New Zealand | |
46= |
73 |
King's College London |
United Kingdom | |
48= |
73 |
University of Rochester |
United States | |
48= |
58 |
Washington University in St. Louis |
United States | |
50= |
38 |
University of British Colombia |
Canada | |
50= |
51 |
Chinese University of Hong Kong |
Hong Kong | |
52 |
69 |
Sciences Po Paris |
France | |
53 |
114 |
Vanderbilt University |
United States | |
54= |
71 |
Brown University |
United States | |
54= |
66 |
University of Copenhagen |
Denmark | |
56 |
141 |
Emory University |
United States | |
57 |
50 |
Indian Institute of Technology |
India | |
58= |
45 |
Universität Heidelberg |
Germany | |
58= |
43 |
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology |
Hong Kong | |
60 |
109 |
Case Western Reserve University |
United States | |
61= |
117 |
Dartmouth College |
United States | |
61= |
48 |
Nanyang Technological University |
Singapore | |
63 |
93 |
Seoul National University |
South Korea | |
64= |
49 |
Bristol University |
United Kingdom | |
64= |
34 |
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne |
Switzerland | |
66 |
54 |
Boston University |
United States | |
67 |
70 |
Eindhoven University of Technology |
Netherlands | |
68 |
84 |
Indian Institute of Management |
India | |
69 |
58 |
University of Amsterdam |
Netherlands | |
70= |
103 |
School of Oriental and African Studies |
United Kingdom | |
70= |
105 |
Osaka University |
Japan | |
72 |
92 |
Ecole Normale Supérieure Lyon |
France | |
73 |
77 |
University of Warwick |
United Kingdom | |
74 |
95 |
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |
Mexico | |
75 |
127 |
University of Basel |
Switzerland | |
76 |
88 |
Catholic University of Louvain |
Belgium | |
77 |
58 |
University of Illinois |
United States | |
78 |
111 |
Trinity College Dublin |
Ireland | |
79= |
186 |
University of Otago |
New Zealand | |
79= |
73 |
University of Wisconsin |
United States | |
81 |
101 |
University of Glasgow |
United Kingdom | |
82= |
67 |
Macquarie University |
Australia | |
82= |
105 |
Technische Universität München |
Germany | |
84 |
88 |
University of Washington |
United States | |
85 |
97 |
University of Nottingham |
United Kingdom | |
86 |
53 |
Delft University of Technology |
Netherlands | |
87 |
65 |
University of Vienna |
Austria | |
88 |
193 |
University of Pittsburgh |
United States | |
89 |
133 |
University of Lausanne |
Switzerland | |
90= |
143 |
University of Birmingham |
United Kingdom | |
90= |
138 |
Leiden University |
Netherlands | |
92 |
57 |
Erasmus University Rotterdam |
Netherlands | |
93= |
79 |
Moscow State University |
Russia | |
93= |
88 |
Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie |
France | |
95 |
120 |
Utrecht University |
Netherlands | |
96 |
95 |
Catholic University of Leuven |
Belgium | |
97 |
108 |
Wageningen University |
Netherlands | |
98 |
55 |
Universität München |
Germany | |
99= |
112 |
Queen Mary and Westfield College |
United Kingdom | |
99= |
64 |
Pennsylvania State University |
United States | |
101 |
124 |
University of Southern California |
United States | |
102= |
159 |
Georgetown University |
United States | |
102= |
150 |
Rice University |
United States | |
102= |
143 |
University of Sheffield |
United Kingdom | |
105= |
80 |
University of Adelaide |
Australia | |
105= |
112 |
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin |
Germany | |
105= |
100 |
University of Sussex |
United Kingdom | |
108 |
114 |
National Taiwan University |
Taiwan | |
109= |
136 |
University of St Andrews |
United Kingdom | |
109= |
85 |
University of Zurich |
Switzerland | |
111= |
133 |
University of Maryland |
United States | |
111= |
180 |
Uppsala University |
Sweden | |
111= |
199 |
Wake Forest University |
United States | |
111= |
80 |
University of Western Australia |
Australia | |
115 |
217 |
University of Twente |
Netherlands | |
116= |
72 |
Fudan University |
China | |
116= |
62 |
University of Helsinki |
Finland | |
118 |
99 |
Tokyo Institute of Technology |
Japan | |
119 |
77 |
Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Israel | |
120 |
215 |
Keio University |
Japan | |
121 |
103 |
University of Leeds |
United Kingdom | |
122 |
180 |
Lund University |
Sweden | |
123 |
143 |
University of North Carolina |
United States | |
124= |
68 |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
United States | |
124= |
109 |
University of York |
United Kingdom | |
126 |
138 |
University of Aarhus |
Denmark | |
127 |
61 |
Purdue University |
United States | |
128= |
222 |
Kyushu University |
Japan | |
128= |
129 |
Nagoya University |
Japan | |
130= |
164 |
Tufts University |
United States | |
130= |
105 |
University of Virginia |
United States | |
132 |
83 |
University of Durham |
United Kingdom | |
133= |
149 |
University of Alberta |
Canada | |
133= |
259 |
Vrije University Brussels |
Belgium | |
133= |
157 |
Hokkaido University |
Japan | |
133= |
168 |
University of Newcastle upon Tyne |
United Kingdom | |
137 |
177 |
Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen |
Netherlands | |
138 |
86 |
Vienna University of Technology |
Austria | |
139 |
119 |
University of Liverpool |
United Kingdom | |
140 |
234 |
Cranfield University |
United Kingdom | |
141= |
159 |
University of California, Santa Barbara |
United States | |
141= |
228 |
Cardiff University |
United Kingdom | |
141= |
219 |
University of Ghent |
Belgium | |
141= |
206 |
University of Southampton |
United Kingdom | |
145 |
147 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
United States | |
146 |
82 |
RMIT University |
Australia | |
147= |
166 |
Chalmers University of Technology |
Sweden | |
147= |
188 |
Tel Aviv University |
Israel | |
149 |
172 |
Freie Universität Berlin |
Germany | |
150= |
184 |
Korea University |
South Korea | |
150= |
125 |
Texas A&M University |
United States | |
152 |
179 |
University of Notre Dame |
United States | |
153 |
130 |
University of Bath |
United Kingdom | |
154 |
178 |
City University of Hong Kong |
Hong Kong | |
155 |
184 |
McMaster University |
Canada | |
156= |
101 |
Curtin University of Technology |
Australia | |
156= |
114 |
Universität Göttingen |
Germany | |
158= |
194 |
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology |
Israel | |
158= |
240 |
Universität Ulm |
Germany | |
158= |
202 |
Waseda University |
Japan | |
161= |
121 |
Chulalongkorn University |
Thailand | |
161= |
131 |
Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I |
France | |
163 |
121 |
Michigan State University |
United States | |
164 |
219 |
Saint-Petersburg State University |
Russia | |
165= |
76 |
Université libre de Bruxelles |
Belgium | |
165= |
93 |
University of Science and Technology of China |
China | |
165= |
175 |
State University of New York at Stony Brook |
United States | |
168= |
199 |
George Washington University |
United States | |
168= |
136 |
Tohoku University |
Japan | |
170= |
206 |
University of California, Davis |
United States | |
170= |
260 |
Universität Tübingen |
Germany | |
172= |
172 |
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule
Aachen |
Germany | |
172= |
157 |
University of Maastricht |
Netherlands | |
172= |
196 |
Royal Institute of Technology |
Sweden | |
172= |
254 |
Yeshiva University |
United States | |
176 |
261 |
Queen's University |
Canada | |
177 |
138 |
University of Oslo |
Norway | |
178 |
228 |
University of Bern |
Switzerland | |
179 |
169 |
Shanghai Jiao Tong University |
China | |
180 |
150 |
nanjing University |
China | |
181= |
172 |
Kobe University |
Japan | |
181= |
132 |
University of Montreal |
Canada | |
183= |
192 |
Jawaharlal Nehru University |
India | |
183= |
186 |
Free University of Amsterdam |
Netherlands | |
185 |
289 |
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
Malaysia | |
186 |
165 |
University of Innsbruck |
Austria | |
187= |
213 |
Brandeis University |
United States | |
187= |
142 |
Universität Frankfurt am Main |
Germany | |
187= |
150 |
University of Minnesota |
United States | |
190= |
240 |
University of Barcelona |
Spain | |
190= |
248 |
University of Reading |
United Kingdom | |
192= |
169 |
University of Malaya |
Malaysia | |
192= |
118 |
Queensland University of Technology |
Australia | |
194 |
154 |
Technical University of Denmark |
Denmark | |
195 |
267 |
University of Aberdeen |
United Kingdom | |
196 |
308 |
University of Wollongong |
Australia | |
197 |
125 |
Università degli Studi di Roma - La Sapienza |
Italy | |
198= |
254 |
University of California, Irvine |
United States | |
198= |
143 |
Korea Advanced Institute of Science &
Technology |
South Korea | |
200 |
305 |
Universite Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) |
France |
For more information visit
www.topuniversities.com
|
Posted by Robot| 10.10.2006 11:50