The former president olusegun obasanjo has stated that the national open university of nigeria (Noun) is not inferior to other universities in the country. he made this remark on monday while receiving officials of the university during a courtesy visit and alumni award presentation. obasanjo noted that he is speaking from personal experience with the institution’s academic standard.
according to him, nigeria had only one university — the university of ibadan — for about ten years in the past. the former military head of state explained that federal and state universities, which he referred to as second-generation institutions, were later established, followed by private universities making up the third generation.
however, he noted that despite these developments, a significant gap in access to university education remained. this led to the creation of the national open university of nigeria (noun) to help ease academic pressure, especially for working individuals or those seeking distance learning options.
“despite having more universities, we still couldn’t meet demand; the gap kept widening. that’s why i said open university was a necessity. it provided more opportunities and made learning easier for working-class citizens,” he said.
he added that although some critics viewed open universities as inferior, he was not discouraged. “i decided to enroll and see for myself. i came, i saw, and i conquered. two respected lecturers supervised my phd, just like they did for others, so mine is not inferior,” he stated.
obasanjo emphasized that since his phd was of standard quality, and so were others before him, noun has proven its value and is here to stay. “at one point, we had over half a million students, and we are still growing,” he concluded, while pledging his continued support for the institution.
