NOUN’s amended law, placing University at its best in the country – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday stressed that the amended act of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) which he signed has resolved recognition crisis and placed the University at its best among its equals.

Represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Ramon Yusuf at its combined 9th and 10th convocation ceremony on Saturday which was transmitted virtually, Buhari acknowledged that NOUN is taking education to the doorstep of Nigerians as part of its mandate.

He said as a visitor to the University, he places premium on education especially in ensuring a lifelong learning via the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode.

The president commended the management of the institution for the feat, adding that NOUN remained the only single-mode, ODL institution in Nigeria.

Vice Chancellor of the National Open University, Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, revealed that the 9th and 10th convocation ceremony would see to the graduation of 32,725 students from various courses of study in undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

The VC who will finish his five year tenure on February 10th gave a breakdown of graduands as: “a total of 24,300 were drawn from the year 2020, while the year 2021 has a total of 8,425 graduands, making it a cumulative 80,418 students who graduated within his five-year stint at the University.

“It became necessary to hold a combined convocation due to inability to hold the 9th convocation in March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

“The virtual convocation is not the first in the country due to COVID-19 restriction, but it is the most significant in leading way to the largest single event mass graduation of students in the history of higher education in the country.”

Adamu, who took time off to explain his achievements, said the recorded strides were a culmination of “dedication and singular focus in moving the university from a static provider of ODL to dynamic process of transformation of higher education delivery models in Africa.”