Unilag, OAU And UNN Are The Most Search-for Universities So Far In 2014

A look at the search trends in Nigeria between Jan 1st till date has revealed that Nigerians have been conducting more online searches for federal than private or state-owned universities so far in 2014. The comparative study which was developed using Google’s Search Trends tool offers a unique perspective into how Nigerians have been searching for the 129 tertiary institutions in 2014. The ranking also bears some similarities to other top universities rankings such as those produced by 4ICU, where 3 of the highest ranked Nigerian universities also appear on the top 5 most searched-for Nigerian universities list.

Topping the list are 3 of the oldest federal universities in Nigeria; the University of Lagos (Unilag), the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). The 3 of them were also the 3 most searched-for nigerian universities on Google in 2013. The Ota-based Covenant university placed 6th, thereby taking the position of most searched-for private university in Nigeria, with the National Open University (NOUN) and the University of Ibadan coming in at 4th and 5th respectively. Further comparison between the top 5 universities in 2014 data reveals that although OAU received more searches than the other 4 schools in May, Unilag maintained a sustained lead throughout the year- a position which the school also held in 2013.

The study also notes that although there was a reduction in the amount of searches for the word “university” between December 2013 and January 2014, the numbers have now grown – though not as high as it was in May 2013.

Perhaps the most surprising detail in the study is related to the states from which people have been searching for the term “university”.  While many would have been expecting to see Lagos topping the list, it didn’t even appear on the list of top 7. Occupying the top position is Oyo state, followed by Osun and Adamawa state.

Commenting on the newly released report Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade said “The internet is playing an ever increasing role in the decision making. Students are online searching and consuming content in all forms when they are deciding whether or not to go to university and deciding which universities to apply for”

We expect that as the number of online internet users in Nigeria continues to grow, and more universities expand their use of online tools for marketing, these numbers will continue to go up said Kola-Ogunlade.

The Google data suggests that academics, accustomed to university terms, will also need to pay attention to search terms.

The full ranking of top 50 universities can be found below.

1 university of lagos, unilag

2 obafemi awolowo university, oau

3 university of nigeria nsukka, unn

4 national open university of nigeria

5 university of ibadan

6 covenant university

7 university of ilorin

8 babcock university

9 university of abuja

10 kogi state university

11 nigerian defence academy

12 bowen university

13 university of benin

14 nasarawa state university

15 delta state university

16 lagos state university

17 ahmadu bello university

18 benue state university

19 university of calabar

20 university of uyo

21 bayero university

22 adekunle ajasin university

23 osun state university

24 olabisi onabanjo university

25 university of jos

26 imo state university

27 afe babalola university

28 nnamdi azikiwe university

29 ekiti state university

30 landmark university

31 abia state university

32 ambrose alli university

33 madonna university

34 ebonyi state university

35 kwara state university

36 kaduna state university

37 university of agriculture makurdi

38 oduduwa university

39 technical university

40 federal university wukari

41 university of maiduguri

42 redeemers university

43 federal university lokoja

44 american university of nigeria

45 baze university

46 caleb university

47 katsina university

48 elizade university

49 federal university of technology minna

50 lead city university