The National Universities Commission (NUC) is facilitating a series of collaboration between the country's university system and that of the State of Georgia in the United States of America (USA).

To that effect, a U.S. Faculty Development Seminar delegation has arrived the country at the invitation of the NUC and has held meetings with top government officials, including the Ministers of Education and Women Affairs, legislators, and also attended a seminar on "Management of Distance Education in Nigeria Universities. They are also visiting the Universities of Abuja, Jos and Lagos, the last tomorrow, before going on to Duala later in the month.

Areas of expected collaboration include, the development of distance education, research, capacity building.

In a Digital Video Conference held at the US Consulate in Abuja, for the visitors to interact with journalists in Federal Capital and Lagos some members of the team, the Coordinator of the collaboration programme, Assistant Dean and Professor of Criminal Justice, Georgia College of Arts and Sciences, Olufunke Fontenot, who is also a Nigerian said the Georgia university system has one of the highest numbers of institutions in the US, with 35 higher institutions.

She promised, on behalf of the team to assist the country in its quest to achieve excellence in the area of distance learning, even as the team expects both individual faculty and institutional collaborations.

Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Peter Okebukola said no fewer than 30,000 students are undergoing different programmes in distance learning in the country. The University of Abuja topped the list with 15, 000 students, while the remaining 15, 000 were shared between the universities of Lagos and Ibadan.

"We are getting more universities to be interested in distance learning and Obafemi Awolowo University has already indicated interest", he further said.

He predicted that about 10 percent of students enrolled in the university system in the next five years, would be through the distance learning mode. At the Lagos end of the DVC, Dr. Ronke Ogunmakin of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) told the visitors that the institution has admitted two sets of students, the first 10, 000 and the second, 31, 000, bringing the total enrolment to 41.