As part of its mandate to regulate operations of the nation’s varsities, the National Universities Commission (NUC) may soon begin its own ranking of Nigerian Universities. Executive Secretary of the Commission, Professor Abubakar Rasheed disclosed this on Friday at the maiden International Lecture Series with the theme, ‘Global Rankings and the Nigerian Higher Education System, at the NUC auditorium, Maitama Abuja.

The lecture, a partnership between the NUC and the Nigerian Academy of Letters brought together renowned academics and university administrators including the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, NAL President, Professor Olu Obafemi, Professor of Medicine and ex-President, Nigerian Academy of Science, Shehu Umar as well as the former Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan and Professor of English Language, Ayo Banjo.

In his welcome address, Professor Rasheed said universities all over the world play critical role in nation’s building and development, noting that the need to continuously seek new ways of improving them cannot be overemphasised. The scribe, a former Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University, said Kano rankings in the Nigerian University System would trigger healthy competitions among the various Ivory Towers in the land, just as he argued that the move is part of the efforts aimed at re-engineering the institutions of learning for optimal productivity.