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.

Mr 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.

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.

Mr Obi emphasised that online education was a sustainable and scalable strategy that offers 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.

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

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

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

Also, Oby Ezekwesili, chief executive officer, Human Capital Africa, said education offered by Nexford strategically equips Nigerians and Africans to compete with their counterparts globally.

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

“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,” Ms Ezekwesili said.

(NAN)