NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY WEBSITES: WEBOMETRIC MAPPING OF HYPERLINK CONNECTIVITY IN AN EMERGING ACADEMIC WEB SPACE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2026-1005-4787Keywords:
University website, Nigeria, Hyperlinks, Webometrics, Academic webAbstract
This paper examines the hyperlink architecture of Nigerian university websites by constructing and analyzing a web space, based on the official online presence of the universities in the most populous country in Africa. Using data collected in 2024 through web crawling, the findings reveal a disorganized and weakly connected web structure. The official sites of universities were often tiny in their size and generated a minimum of outbound links. Connectivity improved when web neighborhoods, owned by respective universities, were treated as single units of analysis. The most significant change in connectivity was observed with the inclusion of a central web communicator—the National Universities Commission (NUC)—which plays a pivotal role in linking the Nigerian academic web. The paper uses graph-theoretical webgraph analysis to map the structural characteristics of the Nigerian academic web, and gives specific recommendations for university web administrators and policy makers to enhance digital integration and visibility. The study highlights key methodological limitations of hyperlink analysis when reliant on search engines, particularly in contexts where comprehensive national-level web crawling is both feasible and necessary. Furthermore, it identifies the structural centrality of a single web communicator, the NUC, in shaping national academic web connectivity. Collectively, these insights offer meaningful implications for both future research and practical approaches to analyzing and managing academic web ecosystems.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Anthony .M. Nwohiri, Andrey. A. Pechnikov
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