Olowolafe pledges to expand access to quality education

The newly installed Pro-Chancellor of Miva Open University, Dr. Tunji Olowolafe, has pledged to justify the confidence reposed in him through his investiture, promising to contribute his quota to the continued growth and success of the institution.

Olowolafe made the commitment during the maiden convocation ceremony of Miva Open University and his investiture as Pro-Chancellor, held on Saturday at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts, Iganmu, Lagos.

Expressing pride in his association with the university, Olowolafe described Miva as a bold and visionary institution committed to expanding access to quality education.

“I am proud to be affiliated with Miva Open University. Genuinely proud because of what this institution represents and the audacity of the idea at its founding,” he said.

Drawing inspiration from the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Olowolafe recalled how the former Premier of the Western Region institutionalised free education and established Africa’s first television station as a means of extending learning opportunities to communities where conventional schools were not readily accessible.

“Awolowo did not stop at building schools. In 1959, he built the first television station on this continent and used it to carry lessons into homes that had no school nearby. He understood a simple truth: where the student cannot travel to the classroom, the classroom must learn to travel to the student. Ladies and gentlemen, Miva Open University is that very idea, grown all the way up,” he stated.

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The new Pro-Chancellor strongly advocated the democratisation of education, lamenting that open and distance learning had for too long been regarded as a second-choice option reserved for those unable to gain admission through conventional routes.

According to him, such perceptions have contributed to inadequate investment in a model that has the potential to transform educational access across Nigeria and Africa.

“The idea behind open and distance learning is certainly not new. But in Nigeria and across Africa, it has too often been treated as the lesser option. That framing has caused us to under-invest in a model that, if properly executed, can do more to democratise education than almost any other intervention available to us,” he said.

Olowolafe stressed that democratising education should not be mistaken for lowering academic standards. Rather, he said, modern educational systems must be deliberately designed to remove barriers and meet learners where they are.

Describing maintenance of quality equally while expanding access as a big challenge, he commended Miva Open University for successfully confronting the monster.

“It is relatively straightforward to deliver excellent education to a small cohort. The real challenge, which separates a serious institution from a merely ambitious one, is maintaining that same integrity as the numbers grow. And our numbers are growing,” he noted.

He observed that despite increasing enrolment figures, the university had remained committed to academic excellence and quality assurance.

“Nigeria’s population is growing at about 2.7 per cent annually. The temptation when scale increases is to standardise in ways that strip learning of its depth. Miva has resisted that temptation, and that is worth commending. Chancellor and team, again, very well done to you,” he added.

Olowolafe also lauded the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for its investments in the education sector and policy initiatives aimed at improving learning outcomes across the country, noting that the impact of such interventions was becoming increasingly evident.

Addressing the graduating students, he encouraged them to build on the knowledge acquired at the institution, attain remarkable achievements, and become worthy role models for future generations, urging them to embrace lifelong learning, pursue excellence, and serve as positive agents of change in society.

The Pro-Chancellor further charged the university’s leadership to remain steadfast in preserving the institution’s culture of excellence and to resist any pressure to compromise standards.

“My job as Pro-Chancellor, alongside my distinguished colleagues, is to help this university resist those temptations. We do not have to choose between quality and openness, and we will not,” he declared.