Expansion of Access to Education Through Distance Learning

Deployment of Private Open University in Nigeria for more access to STEM education for Nigerian youths and Teachers

The AFRIHUB UNIVERSITY (AU), a Nigeria Diaspora promoted university,   is coming on board to significantly increase the production of science, engineering and technological experts at all spectrums using online and blended education platforms. Main target will be development of social scientific,  technological, managerial and administrative workforce for the purpose of national development. The goal also is to contribute significantly to both productive and research sectors and industries, and make positive impact on the quality of life and living of the Nigerian people.

The proposed university will be founded on the philosophy that University Education is general, but education in an open university  in particular, should mold the recipient unquestionably into a wise, creative, effective and reliable human resource that could help the economy and technological development of our country, driven by application of technological tools and powered by Nigerians in the Diaspora desirous of contributing to improvement of the Nigeria education system.

VISION STATEMENT

The vision of the proposed University is to build, through national and international industry-based partnership, a world class institution that will produce very well trained and highly skilled  manpower with sound character, integrity and morality as a way of life.

 MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the university shall be to educate students in education, social sciences,   managerial and technological disciplines and in other related areas of academic and professional disciplines in such ways that would help them develop their ability and passion, and to transform the natural resources around them into goods and services. The institution would also vigorously undertake research and development that would be relevant to the needs of the nation and the world at large, and in so doing, forge reliable collaborative partnership with relevant industries. The institution will be committed to generating, disseminating and preserving knowledge and co-operating with other institutions to bring this knowledge to bear on the nation and the world. There would be inter-disciplinary centers with laboratories and program whose work would cut across departmental boundaries, and whose products would find relevant application toward national economic development.

Over 70% of youths in Nigeria seeking admission each year into universities cannot be admitted. Our solution is to establish the first private open university, with blended learning in Nigeria, allowing for trans-national education in collaboration with US universities and diaspora Nigerians in the US. Thematic focus on STEM, Education, tele-medicine, and technology application to enhancement of teaching and learning;

Technology will be at the center of our solution. We are currently an ICT Institute offering courses in twelve areas of Information Technology. Our solution will involve hardware, software, edu-portal such as black board, deployment of MIT OCW, use of digital library resources, broad-band telecommunication network, and use of video lecture platforms to allow for lecturers and teachers at remote locations to teach students at their natural environment(online) with 20% oncampus requirement to further enrich student learning experience.

Our goals for the next 12 months include:

1. Procurement of necessary licenses from local university regulators;

2. Finalization of agreements with several US and UK universities (90% done)

3. Procurement of more equipment, software and portals (20% done)

4. Expansion of telecommunication and bandwidth capability (5% done)

5. Completion of infrastructure deployment at permanent campus (started)

6. Marketing, promotion and launching of the new AfriHUB University

Our goal over the next five years is to grow the population of students from 5,000 (year 1) to 100,000 (year 5); And also to expand our programs from 12 STEM areas to 30 STEM + areas academic areas, including exchange programs with Youth for Understanding USA.

The solution is an online blended learning model. Students will access teaching and learning ONLINE, with option to attend classes on-campus at three locations in Nigeria (Abuja, Kaduna and Enugu) located at three of six geo-political regions of the country. Lecturers and administrators will be drawn from over 1.2 million Diaspora Nigerians who are eager to be part of education solution in Nigeria (brain gain) without leaving their current positions in US and UK...

We are currently serving 460 students at our Abuja campus (Diploma, ICT professional and International MSc/BSc Programs). At other (5) locations in Nigeria, we are teaching and certifying  over 4,000 students of other institutions, serving as their ICT solutions providers. In 14 years of operation in Nigeria, we have trained and certified 1,457,500 Nigerian youths in various STEM and IT areas including CISCO Network Admin, Oracle DB, Microsoft MCSE, PMP, IOT Specialists, Web Masters, etc...

With funding and support, we plan to increase the population of people served by our products to 5,000 (12 months), and 50,000 in 3 years. The fund will be used to expand from our current World-Bank supported Global Distance Learning Institute to a permanent site. 

1. D.SC Information Technology (GWU, Washington DC);

2. MSC Computer Science (SUNY Binghamton, NY);

3. Over 30 Years in Management, Academics and Technical Positions;

4. Over 230 Technical staff, lecturers and admin personnel;

5. Deployed 25 ICT Resource Centers and eLibraries in Nigeria (2005-2018);

6. Ten years in leadership roles in Nigeria Diaspora communities in US

We have a detailed business plan showing break even in first year, 10% profit in second year, and profit growth of 15% from second to 10th year of operation;

We are applying to solve for funding. We are currently receiving the MIT OCW (Open Course Ware) and for over 6 years now. We are a premium ICT solutions providers for Nigeria tertiary education sector. Funding, resources, and endorsement assistance in the form of grants and other resources will go a VERY long way in allowing us to make tremendous impact in the STEM education sector of Nigeria, with focus on Train-The-Trainers...

Main barrier is funding. Another is government red tapes. We believe with grants and endorsement by MIT Solve, we can overcome both