By OLUWAFUNKE ISHOLA

Mr Peter Obi, Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 polls, has called for the establishment of more online universities to enhance the development of Nigeria?s education system.

Obi made the call at the Nexford University 2024 Graduation on Saturday in Lagos, noting that online education was the only way the country could provide high-quality education at the scale required.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria?s universities have a capacity issue, as the number of students they can accommodate is much lower than the number of applicants.

According to the National Universities Commission (NUC), the country?s universities can only accommodate 700,000 students out of the two million applicants seeking admission annually.

Obi emphasised that online education was the sustainable and scalable strategy of offering students continuous learning that empowers society.

?Countries like Pakistan, India, Turkey, and Bangladesh have online universities that have more students than all our universities.

?We need to do it. We need to massively educate people because education is one of the most important tools of development,? Obi said.

Obi also advised leaders to be compassionate, have good character and be competent, to deepen good governance.

Similarly, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, said online education bridges learning barriers and positions students strategically for global opportunities.

Enelamah noted that tech-enabled, online education is transformational and crucial to socio-economic growth.

Also, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, Chief Executive Officer, Human Capital Africa, said education offered by Nexford is to strategically equip and position Nigerians, and Africans to compete with their counterparts globally.

Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education, noted that today?s world has an aging population with an average age of 33, while Africa?s average age is 18.9 years.

?So, that means that it is Africa that will empower the workforce of the world in a matter of decades from now.

?As a matter of fact, by 2050, almost 85 per cent of the increasing global workforce will be through the African young people.

?That, therefore, means that the education of the kind that Nexford offers to our people, cutting-edge global standard education, that?s at the frontier of the kind of technological revolution that we?re seeing, is the way to go.

?And the way to go cannot be in a way that is outside of the capabilities of the people, because the population data also shows that it?s a significantly poor population.

?Therefore, what we do at Nexford is well worthy to be acknowledged,? Ezekwesili said.

She noted that the university offers courses like artificial intelligence, cyber security, basic knowledge of blockchains, leadership and communication skills, among others.

Similarly, Mr Olatubosun Alake, Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, said online classes have democratised learning and improved education outcomes.

Alake emphasised that technology can change economies, necessitating the state to establish various programmes and also support organisations championing infusion of technology across sectors.

Commenting, Mr Fadl Al Tarzi, CEO, Nexford University, said the school had integrated artificial intelligence into all its courses, disclosing that almost 40 per cent of its graduates already studied artificial intelligence.

Tarzi said artificial intelligence would improve Nigeria and the global economy, boost productivity, accelerate research and development and connect Nigerian talents with global talent.

Speaking on the graduation, Tarzi said no fewer than 1,200 students graduated, saying efforts were ongoing to double the number annually.

?So, we started this university with a mission. The mission was really to enable economic mobility across the world without people having to leave their country.

?Problems like emigration in Nigeria exist in many other markets across the world. We don?t believe that people should have to leave their homes to secure a better future,? he said.

Tarzi emphasised that Nexford would equip people with the skills required to access economic opportunities, regardless of their physical location, to enhance knowledge transfer and socio-economic development. (NAN)

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