Dons ask Nigerian universities to publish researches in international journals

OAU was recently ranked as the best
university in Nigeria.
Following the listing of the Obafemi
Awolowo University , OAU, as one of the
top ten universities in Africa, a university
professor, Olufemi Ajayi, on Thursday
urged other universities in the country to
emulate the school in publishing their
researches in international journals.
Mr. Ajayi, the Vice Dean, Faculty of
Agriculture of the OAU, also urged Nigeria
universities to invest in infrastructure and
information technology for advancement.
OAU was currently rated as the best in
Nigeria and 8th in Africa.
The rating was made in the latest
webometric ranking by the Cybermetric
Lab of Spain, a world renowned research
council.
Mr. Ajayi said that the university was able
to be adjudged so because it published
its researches in international journals.
He said that lecturers in OAU collaborated
to publish quality researches in the
journals.
The lecturer said that OAU had the
required feasibility, infrastructure and
modern information technology to
enhance the publication of researches of
international standards.
“OAU earned the award through hard
work from lecturers who collaborated and
published grand rating researches of
international standards.
“As one of the first generation universities
in the country, OAU has infrastructure
and ICT facilities accessible to internal
and external researchers,” he said.
Another lecturer, Ismail Raji, of the
Department of Education Management,
University of Ibadan, said that it was the
volume of publications from OAU
lecturers that earned the institution the
award.
“OAU, as one of the first generation
universities, has experienced hands, large
number of professors, lecturers and PhD
graduates with reputable record,” Mr. Raji
said.
Oluwatoki Jamiu, a Senior Lecturer in the
Department of History and International
Relations, Lagos State University,
however, said that the OAU ought to have
achieved more than that.
“We should be talking of OAU, as a first
generation university in Nigeria, being
among the first 20 in the world and not
just eight in Africa.
“With the calibre of lecturers and students
produced over the years in OAU, I believe
the university deserves to be ranked
higher than that.
“This shows the need to inject more
resources to the education sector to
improve standards in Nigerian
universities,” he said.
He added that most of the first generation
universities in Nigeria ought to be among
the first 20 in the world in view of the
calibre of human and material resources
in the country.