By Emeka Oluka

The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has been ranked first in Nigeria in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2) Zero Hunger Impact Ranking for the year 2024 by the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking.

This information was revealed by the Resource Person/Chairman FUNAAB Committee on SDG, Prof. Adeniyi Olayanju during a presentation on the Sustainability Strategy Framework at the Review Meeting of FUNAAB-SDG clusters with the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Babatunde Kehinde, on Monday, July 15, 2024.

In his presentation, Prof. Olayanju disclosed that out of the 2,152 universities evaluated from 125 countries/regions, 27 finalists emerged from Nigeria out of which the overall impact ranking for 2024 was produced and FUNAAB came 3rd.

Disclosing the mode of scoring, Prof. Olayanju, a former Vice-Chancellor, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, said evidence questions and numeric questions alongside traditional questions based on numeric data and qualitative data were used.

He added that the scoring was based on three elements, which were, Declaration: (university declares it does something); Evaluation: (assessors evaluate supplied evidence) and Publication: (additional evidence for public evidence).

Speaking on sustainability strategy for the ranking, Prof. Olayanju advocated for a prompt visibility drive on the FUNAAB Website and other Social Media handles, stressing the advantages of linking individual FUNAAB Webinars and Inaugural Lectures to the United Nations’ SDG and individual SDG to FUNAAB Webinar and Inaugural Lectures.

The programme which was organised by the Directorate of Research, Innovations and Partnerships (DRIP) also highlighted the various sustainability strategies to be adopted by the University and its SDG team going forward to align with its vision of a world-class status.