Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua (Awkapoly), has been ranked the second-best polytechnic in Nigeria by the Webometrics 2023 annual global ranking of top tertiary institutions.
Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun State, came first, Akwapoly second, Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State third, Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State took the fourth position, while Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri, in Imo State completed the top five.
Akwapoly was Nigeria’s 4th best polytechnic from 2011-2012, but fell to the 99th position from 2014-2018. The institution rose from 99th to 18th position between 2019-2021 before its current leap to the 2nd position.
The polytechnic dislodged the Ibadan Polytechnic, Federal Polytechnic Offa, and others to clinch the second position.
Six federal polytechnics also made the top 10 positions.
Lagos City Polytechnic took the sixth position, the seventh position went to Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, Federal Polytechnic Ede secured the eighth position while the ninth and tenth position went to Federal Polytechnic Bida and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta respectively.
Akwapoly is the only state-owned polytechnic to make it to the top ten, while Lagos City Polytechnic is the only privately-owned polytechnic to make the list.
The Webometrics Ranking of world higher institutions is a ranking system based on a composite indicator that takes into account the number of lecturers with PhD and Masters as well as total number of NBTE accredited courses offered by the institutions, publications by academic staff and the visibility and impact of these web publications according to the number of external links they received.
The ranking is published by the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) located in Madrid.
In his reaction, Rector, Dr Moses Umobong dedicated the achievement to God, the Akwa Ibom State Government as well as the management, staff and students of the polytechnic.
He said feat is a testimony of the hard work, determination, commitment and dedication of major stakeholders. He hailed the Akwa Ibom State Government for its support to help create an enabling environment for learning and research.