Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has called for the establishment of more online universities in Nigeria, emphasizing their potential to revolutionize the nation’s education system.
Speaking at the 2024 graduation ceremony of Nexford University in Lagos on Saturday, Obi highlighted the urgent need for scalable and high-quality education to address the capacity challenges of Nigeria’s traditional universities. According to him, online education is the most viable solution for providing access to millions of young Nigerians.
“Countries like Pakistan, India, Turkey, and Bangladesh have online universities that have more students than all our universities,” Obi stated. “We need to do it. We need to massively educate people because education is one of the most important tools of development.”
Data from the National Universities Commission (NUC) indicates that Nigeria’s universities can only accommodate 700,000 students out of the two million applicants seeking admission annually. Obi stressed that online education offers a sustainable and scalable strategy to empower society through continuous learning.
He also urged leaders to embrace compassion, good character, and competence to foster effective governance in the education sector and beyond.
Adding to Obi’s perspective, Okechukwu Enelamah, former Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, highlighted the transformative power of tech-enabled online education. He noted that it bridges learning gaps and equips students for global opportunities.
Similarly, Oby Ezekwesili, the chief executive officer of Human Capital Africa and a former Minister of Education, commended Nexford University for preparing Nigerians and Africans to compete globally. She emphasized Africa’s youthful population as a critical advantage in shaping the future workforce.
“Today’s world has an ageing population with an average age of 33, while Africa’s average age is 18.9,” Ezekwesili noted. “By 2050, almost 85 per cent of the increasing global workforce will be through African young people.”
The call for online universities is gaining traction as a necessary step to address Nigeria’s educational challenges and position the nation for socio-economic growth.
