Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, is not inferior to other universities in the country.
Obasanjo made this statement on Monday when he played host to some of the university’s officials who came on a courtesy visit and alumni award presentation.
The ex-Nigerian leader said he has a firsthand experience of the standard of the institution, hence his declaration.
According to him, in the past, there had only been one university in Nigeria for about 10 years, which is the University of Ibadan.
The erstwhile military head of state noted that 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.
He, 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 why 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.
