Despite the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the University of Ibadan has been ranked the best university in West Africa.

The ranking, which was published by the Times Higher Education (THE), shows that Covenant University came in as the second best university in Nigeria, and 151 among emerging economies.

Nigeria’s premier university, which ranked 141 has been on strike for 88 days.

Of the 442 universities ranked from 43 countries, only three Universities featured from Nigeria, with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, completing the trio.

According to THE, China remains the most-represented nation in the 2019 listing, with 72 institutions, up from 63 last year.

The nation claims four of the table’s top five positions – and seven of the top 10. Tsinghua University surpasses Peking University as this year’s top institution overall.

India is still the second most-represented country with 49 institutions included, up from 42.

The nation has also increased its presence in the top 200, from 17 to 25 institutions, to surpass Taiwan as the second most-represented in the group.

Russia’s performance is mixed – while several universities have declined, there are also some significant risers and prominent newcomers.

The country has 35 institutions included, up from 27 last year, overtaking Taiwan as the fourth most-represented in the overall table.

Brazil is the most-represented Latin American nation – and third most-represented in the table – with 36 institutions, up from 32. But 17 of these have declined, including its two leading universities.

South Africa, the final member of the BRICS group, has nine institutions, up from eight last year, and retains seven in the top 200.

Elsewhere, emerging nations across Europe have generally declined, while several countries in the Middle East and North Africa and Southeast Asian regions have progressed.

University of Ibadan’s best ranking was in clinical, pre-clinical, and health sciences, while CU’s strength remained in technology and engineering, business and economics.

The universities were ranked by 13 performance indicators, some of which were collated in the in the last quarter of 2018 — during the strike.

The countries considered include: Brazil, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, and United Arab Emirates.

Others are Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Ghana, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Vietnam