Education Milestone: NOUN Opens Soro Centre With Capacity For 1,000 Students
By Khalid Idris Doya
The Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Olufemi Ayinde Peters, has commissioned a community study centre in Soro, Bauchi State, marking the beginning of academic activities in the facility.
The study centre, the first of its kind in the Bauchi Central Senatorial District, was facilitated by Hon. Mansur Manu Soro, member representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency in National House of Assembly. The facility, built on a 10-hectare land, has elaborate structures with the capacity to accommodate 1,000 undergraduates.
Speaking at the commissioning of Soro Community Study Centre in Bauchi state on Wednesday, the NOUN's Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Ayinde Peters, said the centre is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including modern study rooms, high-speed internet, digital learning tools, and student support services.
"This study centre is more than just a building; it is a beacon of hope and opportunity designed to empower the community through education. It embodies NOUN’s commitment to expanding access to knowledge and skills development across Nigeria,” Prof. Peters said.
Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Isaac Sammani Butswat, noted that NOUN has been a pioneer in distance learning since 1983, revolutionising higher education delivery in the country.
According to him by expanding access to learning, the institution is fostering national development and producing a more skilled workforce.
The Vice-Chancellor further called on private sector players and non-governmental organisations to invest in educational infrastructure to foster sustainable growth.
Also speaking, Hon. Mansur Manu Soro explained that the project was borne out of the need to expand access to tertiary education in his constituency and the entire North-East zone. He said the new centre is part of his legacy intervention projects in the education sector.
"Darazo-Ganjuwa constituency and indeed the North-East have suffered years of neglect and marginalisation in the distribution of national resources and critical projects. Education is the tool with which we can emancipate ourselves," he said.
Soro, represented by the chairman of the Darazo-Ganjuwa Legacy Projects Management Committee, Adamu Mudi, highlighted his previous interventions in education, which include establishing four gifted senior secondary schools and one special primary school across the constituency in 2021.
He added that over N100 million has been spent in the last four years to sustain these schools, provide students with uniforms, books, bags, and annual stipends, settle examination fees, and support teachers and health facilities.
The lawmaker also revealed plans to partner with NOUN and the Bauchi state government to establish an entrepreneurship and vocational studies department within the centre to run short-term programmes and create jobs for young people.
He commended Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed for providing the enabling environment to sustain such interventions and praised the NOUN management for its national service to education.
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