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World University Rankings : Why Daily Trust’s infographic is still misleading

Nurudeen Akewushola
Nurudeen Akewushola
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screenshot of the daily trust infographics

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On July 2, FactCheckHub published a fact-check, rating an infographic by Daily Trust claiming to show the Top 20 Nigerian Institutions on World University Rankings as MISLEADING.

The newspaper subsequently published a rebuttal, arguing that FactCheckHub compared the infographic against the wrong dataset. According to Daily Trust, the universities listed in the graphic were drawn from the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings (also known as the Sustainability Impact Rankings), not the 2026 THE World University Rankings.

The newspaper, therefore, argued that FactCheckHub conflated two ranking systems published by Times Higher Education.

However, a closer review by FactCheckHub shows that the rebuttal does not address the central reason the infographic was rated as MISLEADING.

CLAIM

Daily Trust’s infographic accurately represents an official Times Higher Education ranking.

screenshot of the Daily Trust infographics

FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the newspaper’s rebuttal does not resolve the misleading nature of the infographic.

The issue identified in our earlier report was not whether Times Higher Education(THE) publishes multiple rankings. It does.

It publishes several independent rankings, including the World University Rankings, Impact Rankings, Young University Rankings, Asia University Rankings, and Subject Rankings, among others. Each measures different aspects of university performance using separate methodologies.

Rather, the issue lies in how Daily Trust labelled its infographic.

The graphic prominently states: “Top 20 Nigerian Institutions on “World University Rankings” instead of “Sustainability Impact Ratings”.

This distinction matters because “World University Rankings” is not merely a generic description of universities ranked globally. It is the official title of Times Higher Education’s flagship global ranking, which evaluates universities primarily on teaching, research quality, research environment, industry engagement and international outlook.

By contrast, the Sustainability Impact Ratings assess universities according to their contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using an entirely different methodology.

Consequently, the two rankings are not interchangeable.

A reader seeing the headline “Top 20 Nigerian Institutions on World University Rankings” would reasonably understand it to mean the official THE World University Rankings, not the Sustainability Impact Rankings. A look at the comment section under the infographic confirms this.

Ranking University Ranking University
1 University of Ibadan 13 Ekiti State University
2 University of Lagos 14 Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
3 Bayero University Kano 15 Federal University of Technology, Akure
4 Covenant University 16 Federal University of Technology, Owerri
5 Landmark University 17 Federal University Oye-Ekiti
6 Ahmadu Bello University 18 Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
7 Federal University of Technology, Minna 19 Lagos State University
8 University of Ilorin 20 Nnamdi Azikiwe University
9 University of Jos 21 Obafemi Awolowo University
10 University of Nigeria, Nsukka 22 University of Benin
11 Babcock University 23 University of Calabar
12 Delta State University, Abraka 24 University of Port Harcourt

Source: Top 20 Nigerian Universities on 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) “World University Rankings”

That is precisely why the infographic becomes misleading.

Daily Trust’s rebuttal argues that institutions such as Afe Babalola University, Redeemer’s University, Al-Hikmah University, Godfrey Okoye University and Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria appear in the Sustainability Impact Rankings.

FactCheckHub does not dispute that.

However, the rebuttal does not explain why the infographic omitted any reference to the Sustainability Impact Rankings while simultaneously using the phrase “World University Rankings.”

Consequently, readers are left with the false impression that the listed institutions occupy those positions in the flagship THE World University Rankings.

To show that the infographic is misleading, one of the Universities, Alhikmah University, is already touting itself as among the top 20 Universities on the World Universities Rankings. Many users under the comment section were wondering how the top Universities were missing on the list. This is how misinformation spreads.

Had the infographic been titled: “Top Nigerian Universities in the 2026 THE Impact Rating” or “Top Nigerian Universities in THE Sustainability Rankings”, it would not have been misleading.

Instead, the title points readers to an entirely different THE ranking system.

The fact that the universities originate from another official THE ranking does not remove the misleading presentation created by the headline used in the infographic. The FactCheckHub rates claims as misleading if it is in connection with elements like photographs, infographics, videos, texts, data, quotes, etc. that are real but placed in a wrong context, accompanied by a false explanation or manipulated.

VERDICT

Daily Trust’s rebuttal does not invalidate FactCheckHub’s verdict. While the listed universities correspond to the 2026 Times Higher Sustainability Impact Rankings, the infographic labels them as “World University Rankings”. THE World University Rankings and THE Impact Rankings are distinct official rankings that measure different indicators; presenting one as the other creates a misleading impression for readers.

 

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Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.

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