Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun, has been rated the best university in Nigeria and the eighth in Africa in the latest webometric ranking.
This was contained in the university’s news bulletin issued on Tuesday, quoting the new Webometric rating by Cybermetric Lab of Spain, a world-renowned research council.
The publication stated that the council rated OAU higher on the ladder from number 14 to eight in Africa.
It also confirmed the university’s academic excellence and intellectual supremacy, saying this was the first time that a Nigerian university would be so ranked consecutively.
“This is a development that academic analysts and management of universities in Africa have hailed as a monumental leap for educational advancement in Nigeria, ‘’ it stated.
Reacting, the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole, attributed the giant strides recorded by his administration to unparalleled research output, administrative acumen as well as technical competence of the staff .
Omole added that only a focused leadership, the hallmark of his management team , could produce such a feat.
He commended the dedication to duty of all stakeholders in making sure that the ideas of the founding fathers of the university became a reality.
The vice-chancellor urged the Federal Government not to relent in its efforts to improve on the funding of education.
Omole said adequate funding would ensure that “ the increased penchant for travelling abroad to undergo academic programmes that could be taught better by our lecturers here in Nigeria would be a thing of the past.’’
