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🎓 Top Research Universities in Nigeria

Universities and colleges in Nigeria ranked by the total citations their research has received (OpenAlex).

📅 2026📏 citations50 entries🇳🇬 See all of this country’s rankings →
Every dot is one entry, placed by its value (citations); the vertical bar marks each row’s median.
1
University of Ibadan51,220 papers
1,521,156
2
University of Nigeria37,010 papers
780,633
3
Obafemi Awolowo University28,940 papers
653,072
4
Ahmadu Bello University27,672 papers
573,896
5
University of Lagos26,798 papers
518,519
6
University of Ilorin23,557 papers
443,676
7
Federal University of Technology19,121 papers
377,081
8
Covenant University12,569 papers
374,853
9
Nnamdi Azikiwe University22,971 papers
278,443
10
University of Benin20,468 papers
278,295
11
University of Calabar17,771 papers
276,142
12
University of Port Harcourt22,413 papers
248,963
13
Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta10,031 papers
239,337
14
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology12,649 papers
236,953
15
Bayero University Kano14,988 papers
236,694
16
Redeemer's University3,623 papers
186,157
17
Federal University of Technology Minna8,419 papers
166,526
18
University of Maiduguri9,938 papers
154,771
19
Adekunle Ajasin University9,586 papers
140,580
20
Landmark University5,024 papers
139,212
21
Federal University of Technology Owerri10,044 papers
137,855
22
University of Jos9,973 papers
133,335
23
Lagos State University9,273 papers
131,564
24
University of Uyo11,889 papers
131,290
25
Ekiti State University9,994 papers
114,760
26
Usmanu Danfodiyo University9,510 papers
110,647
27
Olabisi Onabanjo University8,128 papers
102,790
28
Ebonyi State University6,409 papers
100,951
29
Michael Okpara University of Agriculture9,224 papers
95,905
30
Afe Babalola University7,303 papers
92,420
31
Delta State University10,641 papers
90,191
32
Babcock University7,603 papers
72,814
33
Niger Delta University5,872 papers
69,562
34
Rivers State University14,145 papers
68,087
35
Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi6,407 papers
66,504
36
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University6,313 papers
65,912
37
University of Abuja8,782 papers
63,473
38
Osun State University6,442 papers
55,486
39
Federal University Oye Ekiti6,353 papers
51,695
40
Kwara State University5,951 papers
49,244
41
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University6,501 papers
46,971
42
Abia State University4,929 papers
45,570
43
Bowen University3,771 papers
45,129
44
Imo State University5,650 papers
43,573
45
Ambrose Alli University4,514 papers
36,144
46
Modibbo Adama University of Technology4,276 papers
36,130
47
Enugu State University of Science and Technology6,267 papers
33,817
48
Kaduna State University4,708 papers
32,517
49
Benue State University4,062 papers
31,966
50
Akwa Ibom State University4,593 papers
29,322

Highlights

Within Nigeria, University of Ibadan ranks first in 2026 with 1,521,156, followed by University of Nigeria (780,633) and Obafemi Awolowo University (653,072).

University of Ibadan is 1.9 times higher than University of Nigeria, the runner-up.

Across 50 entries, values run from 1,521,156 (University of Ibadan) to 29,322 (Akwa Ibom State University), with a median of 112,704.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers, 2026. Unit: citations.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers · CC0 1.0 (OpenAlex) · fetched Oct 13, 2026 — Counts every citation to papers by authors affiliated with the institution, so large and old universities score high. It measures research impact, not teaching quality.