Passionate about making Nigerians particularly youths becoming global brand of employees, the Lagos State Government, the former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, and the Chairman, Ecobank Nigeria, Bola Adesola, have declared support for the Nexford University (NXU) learning system in the country, describing the tertiary institution’s learning mode as a revolution to aid better education standards.
They argued that the varsity has revolutionized education in the country to meet 21st century standards and prepare Nigerians to become employees and entrepreneurs who can work without being hindered by territorial boundaries.
According to them, the varsity has democratized learning, allowing their students in Nigeria learn on their own pace online with access to resources and lecturers from different countries.
They spoke during the NXU’s 2024 graduation ceremonies for 1200 students which was held yesterday in Victoria Island with the Washington DC, United States of America-based varsity founder, Fadl Al Tarzi, and CEO, Human Capital Africa, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, in attendance.
Addressing the gathering, Obi stated that the online mode of learning introduced by NXU proved that the institution was already preparing their students for the future.
He added that the institution should be supported to further equip Nigerian students learn like their peers in the 21st century, saying we need to do more in education our people and encouraging Nexford university is necessary.
“Online mode of education critical and the future of learning and we have to embrace it. And because we have not embraced it more in Nigeria, we have countries like Pakistan, India, and Turkey having more students than all our varsities. I can see the critical part of it. We need to support NXU and others to educate our people”.
Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Lagos State, Olatubosun Alake, said that the varsity is supporting the country’s economy by allowing the students to remain within their domain and learn at their own pace.
The commissioner stressed that the varsity has democratized learning for students aiming to acquire tertiary education in the country.
“It is our attention for higher technology for Lagos. So, Nexford university is providing us with the platform for that to happen. This is why we think that Nexford, an institution that is leveraging on technology outcome we must give them our support. We believe that technology will change the world.
“Nexford has been able to democratize learning online, allowing students to learn at their own pace. I am sure that if not for online, many of the students who graduated through Nexford today would have had to travel to different destinations. But since it is online, it is coming to them and they can learn at their own pace. We discovered that it increases absorption which the physical classes may not be able to provide”.
Enelamah added that Nexford brings more successes and solutions that aid the country in solving 21st-century challenges, saying, “We do not want our graduate youths to remain fixed to the country’s territory, and that is what this institution is affording Nigerians graduating today from the school.”
The founder of the institution, Fadl Al Tarzi, said the institution is poised on improving education with the aid of technology, attributing it to the support of the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support learning.
“We have Artificial Intelligence (AI) specialisation for almost five years actually and we have integrated AI in all our courses in all of our programmes.
“AI is going to improve the economy depending on how developed it is and it is going to unfortunately put people out of jobs whether in Nigeria and in other markets but it has the potential to increase productivity and to solve problems that could have taken years to solve significantly to accelerate research and development,” he said.
Tarzi, who commended Nigerian students for their resilience, urged the 2024 graduating to showcase real-time solutions that will change the world.
He said, “We are proud of our Nigerian students. Nexford will continue to help Nigerian students bridge the skill gap and fit into the real-world job market globally.
“We are excited that over 75 percent of our students have achieved their goal of investment with the quality of the education and the value Nexford has afforded them.
Speaking on the Nexford plan for 2025, Tarzi said, “We are planning expansion geographically to be able to expand our community of learners globally.”
The outstanding students awarded are Ganiyat Yusuf and Oloruntosin Eganoyemi, who emerged as the Best Peer Mentors in the BBA Program and the MBA Program, respectively.
Also, Christopher Otakpor emerged with the Outstanding Volunteer Award in the BBA, while Kayode Olaitan Owoyemi won the Outstanding Volunteer Award – MBA.
Outstanding Brand Ambassador Awards category, Abdul Shakur Haruna was awarded Outstanding Brand Ambassador – Ghana while Christian Arimoku Ebhoma was awarded Outstanding Brand Ambassador – Nigeria.
