Miva Already Running School Model of the Next 100 Years – Education Minister

Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has described Miva Open University as an institution that is already operating the model of education that will define the next century.

He said the university represents the future of learning in a world increasingly shaped by technology, artificial intelligence, and changing workplace demands.

The Minister made the assertion at the maiden convocation ceremony of Miva Open University in Lagos on Saturday. A total of 1,212 students, comprising 970 postgraduates and 242 undergraduates, made up the Class of 2026.

Alausa said traditional assumptions about higher education were rapidly becoming obsolete and that institutions must evolve to remain relevant.

“The future workplace is evolving at unprecedented speed. In such a world, universities must evolve,” the minister said.

According to him, Miva Open University has positioned itself at the forefront of that transformation by combining technology, accessibility and quality education.

“Miva Open University represents that evolution. It represents the democratisation of knowledge, educational access at scale, flexibility without compromising quality and, most importantly, it represents the future,” Alausa said.

Addressing the pioneer graduating class, the minister said they were more than ordinary graduates because they had become part of a movement redefining higher education in Nigeria.

“You are not merely graduates, but pioneers. You are the first fruits of an institution that dared to challenge conventional thinking and embrace the future of learning,” he said.

Alausa noted that learning could no longer remain confined to physical classrooms, fixed schedules or traditional pathways, arguing that education systems must adapt to a rapidly changing global environment where knowledge is expanding at unprecedented speed and professions are constantly being reinvented.

Access and excellence can coexist

The ceremony also featured reflections on Miva’s mission to remove longstanding barriers to higher education while maintaining academic standards.

Newly installed Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Dr. Tunji Olowolafe, said access to quality education had for decades been determined by geography, income level and social circumstances, leaving millions of capable Nigerians without opportunities.

“There is an injustice that has persisted in our educational systems for as long as most of us can remember,” Olowolafe said. “Access to quality higher education has remained, in practice, a privilege of circumstance, of geography, of family income.”

He argued that Miva was established to correct that imbalance by creating a system that allows students to learn without abandoning their careers, businesses or family responsibilities.

“Democratising education does not mean lowering standards,” he said. “Democratising education means refusing to allow the conditions of learning to become a barrier to the quality of learning.”

Olowolafe said one of Miva’s most significant achievements was proving that flexibility and academic rigour are not mutually exclusive.

“The graduates before me today did not receive a diluted education. They were held to rigorous standards. They were assessed, challenged, and stretched. And they succeeded, not despite the flexibility of the model, but through it.”

He added that the institution had demonstrated that educational quality can be maintained even while expanding access to learners across different locations, backgrounds and life circumstances.

“You have proved that access and excellence are not enemies,” he told the university’s leadership. “You have given a new generation of Nigerians the chance to grow intellectually without asking them to abandon their responsibilities.”

The keynote speaker and Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, echoed that position, arguing that online education should no longer be viewed as an inferior alternative to conventional learning.

“Quality is not a function of geography. Rigour is not a function of architecture. And excellence does not require that you sit in a particular building in a particular city,” Sanusi said.

“What it requires is a learning environment that is honest, demanding, and designed around the success of the student.”

The former Central Bank governor praised Miva’s technology-driven learning model, describing it as a deliberate effort to bring education to students wherever they are.

“What Miva has done is not merely convenient. It is not simply modern. It is moral. It is a deliberate act of justice, taking the education to where the student is,” he said.

Graduates embody Miva’s growth story

The maiden convocation celebrated not only Miva Open University’s pioneer graduates but also the institution’s remarkable growth since it was licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) on May 16, 2023 and its subsequent commencement in October of same year as an online distance learning university

Starting with about 500 students, Miva has expanded its enrolment to more than 30,000 learners in just three years, a trajectory the university believes puts it on course toward its long-term target of one million students.

Founder and Chancellor Sim Shagaya said the university’s success is reflected in the stories of students who pursued degrees while juggling careers, businesses and family responsibilities.

“Many of you sitting here today are working adults. You are mothers and fathers who, despite holding down a full day’s work, chose to open a laptop to study at ten o’clock at night when the house had gone quiet,” Shagaya said.

He noted that many students initially faced scepticism about the value of online education but persevered through doubts and challenges.

“There were nights when you wondered whether any of it was real. Whether a degree earned online at a young Nigerian university would be respected. Whether all the late nights would be worth it. You probably doubted yourself, but you did not quit. You kept going. You held the line.”

Shagaya highlighted the story of graduate Winniefred Agboola, who spent seven years pursuing a degree at a state university before putting her education on hold for a decade to raise her family. He said Miva eventually provided the flexibility she needed to complete her studies.

“When she found Miva, she did not find a shortcut. She found a door that finally fit her life,” he said. “She stands before you today not just with a certificate but as living proof that the barrier was never ability; it was access.”

Reaffirming the institution’s vision, Shagaya said Miva was established to remove barriers that have historically denied millions of Nigerians access to quality higher education and remains committed to delivering world-class education at scale as it pursues its one-million-student ambition.