By Yetunde Fatungase

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is not inferior to other universities in the country.

Obasanjo stated this on Monday when he played host to some of the university’s officials who came on a courtesy visit and alumni award presentation.

The former president said he has a firsthand experience of the standard of the institution, hence his declaration.

Obasanjo narrated that there was only one university in Nigeria for about ten years before, which was the University of Ibadan.

The former president added that the second generation universities were federal universities, including Nsukka, UniPort and Amadu Bello University, and the third generation were the state universities before the private universities began to come up.

Obasanjo, however, said that 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 kept getting wider, which was why I said Open University is a necessity; it created more avenues and made it convenient for working-class citizens.

“Some people rose up, saying 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 it is inferior. 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.

Prof. Ganiyat Adesina-Uthman, the Director at the Directorate of Advancement and Linkages (DAL) of National Open University, declared that NOUN has been a great blessing, not just to Nigeria and Nigerians but to African countries.

Adesina-Uthman added that the university is not just a federal university but one of its kind in Africa and the biggest on the continent.

The DAL said the institution set out to assist Nigeria in human capital development to meet the international standard for manpower per 1000 population for a sustainable knowledge-based economy while also being effective in training human capital development for neighbouring countries.

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 to include the renaming of some buildings after the donors, a university hospital, a 50-room guest house and a 1000-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 1000-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.

Also speaking, Prof. Wilfred Ngwuanyi, the Director of Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for Africa Study at NOUN, 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 EFCC 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.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highlight of the event was the conferment of the Alumni Award member to the former president. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Peter Amine