Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the National Open University of Nigeria is not inferior to other universities in the country.
Obasanjo said this on Monday when he played host to some of the university’s officials who came on a courtesy visit to confer on him the Alumni Award member.
The former president initiated the resuscitation of NOUN on April 12, 2001, during his first term of office.
Obasanjo also got his PhD from NOUN after he left office.
The former president, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, said he had firsthand experience with the standard of the institution, hence his declaration.
He noted that in the past, there had only been one university in Nigeria for about 10 years, which was the University of Ibadan.
According to him, the second generation of universities, which are the federal and state universities, were also established just as the third generation, which are the private universities, also came into existence.
Obasanjo, however, said despite these efforts, there was still a wide gap in university education in Nigeria, hence the establishment of NOUN to ease the academic burden for those working or seeking distance learning.
“Despite the availability of universities, we’re still not coping; the gaps keep getting wider, which is why I said the open university is a necessity; it created more avenues and made it convenient for working-class citizens.
“Some people rose, saying an open university is inferior to non-open universities, but I was not discouraged.
“I said, let me go there and have a taste of what they’re saying. Then I came in, I saw, and I conquered.
“Two distinguished lecturers supervised me and supervised many other PhD students, and if they supervised me successfully, my PhD wouldn’t be inferior.
“So, if mine isn’t inferior and those before me are not inferior, National Open University has come to stay; at some point, we were more than half a million, and we are still growing,” Obasanjo said.
The former president assured the officials of his maximum support for the institution.
The Director at the Directorate of Advancement and Linkages of NOUN, Prof Ganiyat Adesina-Uthman, said NOUN had been a great blessing, not just to Nigeria and Nigerians but to African countries.
Adesina-Uthman added that the university was not just a federal university but one of its kind in Africa and the biggest on the continent.
She appealed to Obasanjo to support the university scholarships for the best programmes, which include scholarships for students from the flagship programmes.
Adesina-Uthman listed some of the institutions’ other needs including a university hospital, a 50-room guest house, and a 1,000-capacity auditorium, among others.
“We need scholarships for some of our flagship programmes, including Entrepreneurship Studies, Criminology and Security Studies, Mass Communication, Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, and Indigenous Students, too.
“We also want our Advancement and Linkages building named after the donor; university hospital, 50 rooms; and NOUN guest house, a 1,000-capacity auditorium.
“Also, community services to our study centres’ host communities, such as consumables to primary and secondary schools in our host communities, e.g., customised textbooks and uniforms; water and toilet provisions; bus stop stands and so on,” she said.
The Director of Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies at NOUN, Prof Wilfred Ngwuanyi, commended Obasanjo’s intellectual rigour, strategic foresight, and consistent advocacy for African self-reliance.
He appealed to Obasanjo to assist the centre in collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on research and publications.
He also sought the collaboration of the Chinese embassy in the establishment of a Chinese cultural centre through the former president.
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