The National Open University of Nigeria boasts of some of the best and brightest students in the country

 

Nigerians are quick to judge things based on isolated cases involving particular people. One woman's unremarkable public performance as a graduate of the Open University is not enough to conclude that decrees produced by distance education are worthless. The failure of an individual to prove themselves should not be a yardstick to dismiss the quality or standards of open university systems around the around.

The National Open University of Nigeria boasts of some of the best and brightest students in the country. Unfortunately, the dumbest graduate from a conventional university looks down a graduate of the National Open University. 

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was a Harvard graduate and an expert in fixing failed states, but ironically he failed to fix Afghanistan, one of the most backward countries ravaged by war.

So, is Ghani's inability to fix a failed state enough to dismiss the quality of his Harvard education? The unimpressive performance of one or few law graduates from the National Open University is not enough to treat degrees offered by distance education as being inferior. Every education system produces dumb people.

The disappointing performance of one individual is not a fair basis to pass judgement on the quality of education provided by open university system in Nigeria. Can anyone in the conventional university system tell me that Obasanjo's PhD obtained from the National Open University is inferior to their own? 

We used to disdain Indian degrees because of prejudice. Today India ranks among countries with the highest number of scientists in the world. With the second largest pool of scientists in the world, Indians are giving a good account of themselves. Why are Indians able to become the CEOs of Apple and Microsoft in such toughly competitive environment? Because they have proved themselves. 

The Chinese were also once underrated in the world and everything they produced was dismissed as inferior. Today, thanks to China, the average person has access to a mobile phone because of its affordability. China's modern rail technology beats Europe's and America's. Their standard of infrastructure is second to none. The Dangote refinery was built by Indians and Chinese. Currently, Dangote refinery employs 11,000 Indians. Labour migration is not good for local labour industry, but Dangote engaged them because they have more skills than Nigerians in the technology used by the refinery. And these were the same Indians that you dismissed as "inferior."