What do you know about national open university of Nigeria NOUN?



NOUN with 72 study centers across the country is the only approved open university in Nigeria according to national university commission NUC in its latest release with headquarters in Abuja and Lagos, The National Open University was initially established on 22 July 1983 as springboard for open and distance learning in Nigeria. It was suspended by the government on 25 April 1984. However, its resuscitation happened on 12 April 2001 by the former President of Nigeria, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. At take off of the university, pioneer student enrollment stood at 32,400



And since then it has become the largest federal tertiary institution in Nigeria, the federal government generates a lot of money from NOUN.

We have hundreds of open universities all over the world in both developing and advanced countries, but NOUN which is the first of it's kind in whole of West Africa continue to suffer neglect from the same government that established the school, though the Nigeria factor is also playing out, what works in other countries hardly work here due to corruption and poor management, it happens in both the public and private sector, the reason we have dilapidated structures everywhere, our public facilities are in dire state. Our hospitals and schools from primary to tertiary level are nothing to write about.

The cardinal aim of setting up the NOUN was to bring education closer to every Nigerian who wishes to acquire tertiary education in Nigeria, through the school intervention a lot of prisoners across the country have been rehabilitated and many poor Nigerians as well as working class have all acquired certificate from the school.

Though some delusional and misquided Nigerians have always tried to ridicule the school, but why should anyone try to relegate and belittle another person or thing? Life is about choices, we all have our preferences, different strokes for different folks, so engaging in nonsense comparison is absurd to say the least, don't allow your prejudice/aversion of something or someone destroy your Psyche.

Don't ever judge anyone for the choices they make in life or think that you are better than others.



Beyond nomenclature, what every organisation/company out there is looking for is competence and experience, your ability to execute whatever task you are given swimmingly. No one will employ a mediocre graduate even if the person graduates from the best university on earth.

The school is still evolving, the system is still new to our people, but more and more people are embracing it.



Here are some approved universities operating open and distance learning in Nigeria according to NUC.

1. University of Ibadan

2. University of Lagos

3. University of Maiduguri

4. OAU

5. LAUTECH

6. ABU

6. LASU.

7. UNN

8. Federal university of technology Minna

9. Joseph Ayo babalola university

20. Modibbo Adams university of technology Yola.

NOUN has set the gold standard for others.

Covid 19 pandemic has also taught us unforgetable lesson, almost every school went online, this is 21st century, technology has transformed our world in a magical way, those who are still with medieval mentality of acquiring education through the traditional methods of classroom should have a change of mind because the world is moving fast.

NYSC participation which some NOUN students keep clamouring for should be addressed, NOUN amendment bill was passed by the national assembly in 2018 and subsequently signed into law by president buhari, but implementation remains the only problem till today.

Though there's a pride in NYSC, serving one's fatherland is a good thing, infact some employers of labour only asked for NYSC certificate instead of school certificate which is an aberration and anomaly.

NYSC was created at the end of civil war by general yakubu Gowon to foster national integration and heal the wounds of that bloody conflict, the reason you cannot serve in your state of origin, we should not attach too much importance to it. Infact it should be optional and not compulsory for every graduate.

If anyone can write WAEC and NECO singlehandedly and pass it then writing JAMB is not a big deal, people doing distance learning programs have their reasons, mostly due to financial difficulty and inadequate time.

Some people have spent beyond the normal 4 years in NOUN due to financial problem, but the school will not terminate your program, even if it last for then years, that cannot happen in a conventional university.

Those spreading falsehood and misinformation about other people should desist from such noisome and unholesome behaviour, out of ignorance and stupidity people engage in campaign of calumny and character assassination.

NOUN should be given the adequate attention it truly deserves and all the inadequacies should be properly addressed. God bless NOUN