March 19, 2013 by David Attah, Kaduna
Vice-Chancellor,
National Open University of Nigeria, Prof. Vincent Tenebe, has said
that until the Federal Government solve the problem of education, the
security challenges bedeviling the country will not abate.
The VC noted that the various crises in
the land were as result of ignorance and illiteracy, which the open
university with its flexibility of operation had come to solve.
Urging Nigerians to take the opportunity
of the system to acquire more knowledge, Tenebe, a professor of
Agriculture, added that the enrollment figure of the university had hit
132,000 and that in the next five years , "my dream is to hit 1.5
million students enrolment.”
The VC, who spoke to newsmen in Kaduna
on Monday, also disclosed that apart from ex-President Olusegun
Obasanjo, who studied Theology in the institution, other prominent
Nigerians, including the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, and
seven vice-chancellors of conventional universities had increased the
ranks of students of the institution.
"The Awujale of Ijebu, somebody who is
78 years old and has been on the throne for 52 years, is a 100 Level
student of Law in NOUN. The more than 22 Obas under his domain have also
enrolled in NOUN just because the Awujale, the paramount ruler of
Ijebuland enrolled. The Emir of Bauchi, has also just filled his form
for admission,” he said.
According to him, "Our capacity is at
infinity. Open universities today can accommodate five million to 10
million students. As much as many are interested in acquiring education,
we have the room for them. We are opened as wide as the capacity of
this country.
"As I speak to you, the Open University
of India has a student population of 3.8 million. At the moment, we
already have 132,000 students. I want to assure you that in the next two
sessions, we want to hit 500,000 students.” |