National Open University Of Nigeria

The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is a federal open and distance learning (ODL) institution headquartered in Jabi, Abuja, and the first of its kind in West Africa. Established by statute on 22 July 1983 under President Shehu Shagari, the university was suspended by the succeeding military government on 25 April 1984 after only a brief period of operation. President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration revived NOUN on 1 October 2002, and it has since become Nigeria’s largest tertiary institution by student population. NOUN delivers 57 undergraduate and 43 postgraduate programmes across eight faculties — Arts, Agricultural Sciences, Computing and Information Technology, Education, Health Sciences, Law, Management Sciences, and Social Sciences — through more than 100 study centres nationwide, including some located in prisons. Cumulative enrollment has exceeded 687,000 students, with over 134,000 graduates since 2009.

NOUN’s motto is “Learn At Any Place At Your Pace.” Admission does not require sitting the UTME for most programmes, there is no upper age limit, and the university’s academic calendar is unaffected by ASUU strikes that disrupt conventional universities. NOUN has been ranked first in Nigeria for online learning by the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.