The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Peter Okebukola, has said that graduates of the university have contributed at least 12 percent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
He said in the eight years of the president Muhammadu Buhari administration, the university has graduated a total of 148, 499 students who are well known in both public and private sectors as highly professional, exemplary in conduct, entrepreneurial and contributing significantly to the economic growth of Nigeria.
The council chairman, who stated in his speech at the school's 12th Convocation Ceremony, held on Saturday, March 25, 2023 at its Abuja headquarters, added that NOUN's eight year assessment report on educational accessibility was excellent and commended the management for upholding its core mandate of providing accessible education to the average Nigerian from every walk of life.
Okebukola said NOUN had significantly expanded access to quality and affordable university education and crashed the number of suitable qualified prospective students who would ordinarily not have had access to tertiary education.
As the university with the highest number of enrollment in Nigeria, he disclosed that NOUN has continued to be the first port of call for the majority of people who desire to learn at their pace and earn a globally reputable university degree.
While listing some of the university's exemplary achievements in the recent past, citing the promotion of 41 scholars to the position of full professors, completion of over 40 building projects and 78 new study centres spread across the country to bring delivery of academics closer to potential students, the chairman explained the Governing Council has approved 25 policies in the last two years for better and more efficient management of the university.
Out of the 28, 740 graduands, Okebukola revealed that 45 percent of the total number were women, setting NOUN as the trailblazer in the effort to bridge the disparities between male and female tertiary education enrollment.
He therefore charged the graduands to aim for great success , heaving praise on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters as being one of the best VCs in Nigeria as he has taken NOUN to unprecedented heights in his few years in office.
The Pro-Chancellor thanked the federal government through the Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission, as well as other critical stakeholders of NOUN, even as he acknowledged the presence of special guests in the ceremony.
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