Bayo Adeleke
20 October 2004
Lagos — Vice-Chancellor, University of South Africa (UNISA), Professor Nyameko Pityama, has urged Africans to seize opportunities provided by the Open Distance Learning in terms of capacity building.
Pityama, who spoke on the topic "Challenges and Opportunities of Distance Learning Institutions in Africa, while on a working visit to the National Open University of Nigeria's (NOUN) Headquarters in Lagos, pointed out that for Africa to meet up with challenges created by globalisation, there was need for human development through sound education, good governance, leadership change, policy reforms and respect for human rights.
While stating that Africans should take responsibilities for its development, the president, African Council for Distance Education stressed that "it is time we realised we live in a global world, it is imperative we see ourselves as part of that world and accept the barrier of colonialism and see it as such that would strengthen us for us to transcend."
According to Pityama, since the global change in 1990 Africa has gained and not left behind and moved from a situation where military dictatorship is not acceptable in the continent.
While canvassing new breed of leaders for Africa, he said Africans can no longer leave in unhealthy environment where large number of the people are poor and where many are infected with HIV/AIDS, adding that for the continent to witness any serious development efforts must be geared towards knowledge development.
"Any country that the large number of its population are not educated suffered from meaningful development," he said.
NOUN Vice-Chancellor Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, has also assured that the Federal Government has directed that certain amount be set aside for the university in 2005 fiscal year.
Jegede who made this known during a visit by the UNISA Vice-Chancellor to him said the government has shown serious commitment to the project and would want to see to it realisation.
According to him, NOUN will in due course be a song of everbody, adding that the institution was set up to take care of the problems faced by admission seekers as not many of them can be absorbed by the universities in the country.
The highlight of the visit was the signing of memorandum of understanding by the two institutions.
The MOU is in the area of collaboration, networking and exchange of programmes between the institutions.
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