President Bola Tinubu has identified open and distance learning as Nigeria’s best hope for tackling the country’s persistent university admission crisis, declaring that flexible education systems are critical to widening access to higher learning.

Speaking at the 15th convocation of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, Tinubu said the institution has become a strategic solution to the growing mismatch between the number of candidates seeking admission and the limited spaces available in conventional universities.

With more than two million candidates sitting annually for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, the President noted that only a small percentage eventually secure admission, leaving millions of qualified Nigerians shut out of the tertiary education system.

“NOUN has demonstrated that the frontiers of higher education can be expanded significantly without compromising academic standards,” Tinubu said, describing the university as a “vital instrument” for democratizing access to education.

Tinubu, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, praised NOUN’s flexible learning structure, saying it has broken barriers linked to geography, occupation, age and personal circumstances, thereby enabling workers, women, entrepreneurs, security personnel and other groups to pursue higher education.

Tinubu also applauded the university’s partnership with security agencies, which allows personnel to improve their qualifications, as well as its collaboration with the Nigerian Correctional Service to educate inmates.

He described the prison education initiative as a major commitment to rehabilitation and reintegration, stressing that education remains one of the most powerful tools for giving people a second chance.

More than 24,000 students graduated at the convocation, including 17,474 undergraduate degree holders, 1,788 postgraduate diploma recipients, 5,282 master’s degree graduates and 31 doctoral degree awardees.

Among the graduating class were 57 First Class students and 57 inmates who earned first degrees through the university’s correctional education programme.

Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to reforming the education sector, Tinubu said the Federal Government is pursuing policies to expand access, improve quality and deepen the use of technology in learning.

He cited the Nigeria Education Loan Fund, NELFUND and investments in medical and STEM programmes as part of broader efforts to strengthen the country’s higher education system.

The President urged the graduating students to use their knowledge for innovation, integrity and national development.

Also speaking, the Chancellor of the university and Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, called for the removal of all barriers preventing eligible NOUN graduates from participating in the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, scheme.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma, unveiled a five-year strategic plan aimed at transforming the institution into a global leader in open and distance learning.

Uduma said the 2026–2031 plan would focus on expanding access to education, strengthening digital infrastructure and boosting research output.

“At the heart of this agenda lies a simple but profound idea: that education must be accessible, meaningful and transformative,” he said.

He highlighted the university’s digital expansion, including improved fibre optic connectivity across study centres and the migration of institutional systems to Amazon Web Services.

According to him, NOUN now runs the largest Moodle-based learning management system in West Africa, serving more than 180,000 active users and delivering over 2,000 courses every semester.

He also pointed to improvements in physical infrastructure, including new academic buildings, laboratories, roads and student accommodation across several study centres nationwide.

(Vanguard)

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