By Gami Tadanyigbe
The Chairman of Susman and Associates, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman has described the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN’s) entrepreneurship programme as a common good for economic independence in Nigeria.
He stated this while delivering the 8th convocation lecture at the university, with the theme: “Education as a public good – The role of NOUN in promoting entrepreneurship and economic independence.”
Usman described economic independence as a situation where a society or macroeconomy has a high degree of division of labor, where people depend on each other to produce most of the goods and services required to sustain life and living.
“A good commodity is non-rival if its consumption by one individual in a society does not reduce the amount available for others.
“Traditionally, some economists have then taken a leap from establishing that market exchange will not produce socially optimal output of the public good.
“There is some evidence that the provision of by the government is, itself, not a silver bullet and is prone to the creation of many other problems.
“NOUN and its entrepreneur programme can be viewed as common good for economic independence in Nigeria due to the number of positive externalities they exhibit,” he stated.
The convocation lecturer further described education as a public good that promoted respect for life, human dignity and social justice in the society.
Former Minister of National Planning said the open university model was providing education more generally at an adult level for people who did not have the opportunity to attend regular university.
