Mr Musa Zechariah, an alumni of National Open University (NOUN), has advised admission seekers to take advantage of the open university system instead of idling away.
Zechariah, who is the Chairman of the Niger Chapter of the Alumni Association of NOUN, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Saturday.
He urged candidates seeking admission to consider NOUN for its flexibility and its vast array of courses, especially in the Humanities, Arts and Education.
Zechariah said that many candidates had not been able to secure admission into the conventional universities for some obvious reasons and were not taking due advantage of the opportunity Open University system presented.
“Parents and guardians should encourage their children and wards to take advantage of the array of courses being run by NOUN, as it is being under-utilised.
“They should not take it for granted. I have seen candidates that said they sought university admission for six years; they eventually ended up studying in NOUN and they never regretted it,’’ he said.
Zechariah said that the flexibility of the NOUN system would help candidates seeking admission to be admitted without wasting a whole year attempting to take again UTME and post-UTME screening organised by the respective tertiary institutions.
“I tell you, if as many that were denied admission by the conventional universities will take advantage of NOUN, I think that there will be less pressure on the conventional universities.
“It will help to reduce crime rate drastically among the youth because the idle mind is the devil’s workshop,’’ he said.
Zechariah also said that the association was doing its best in terms of publicity to create awareness on the benefits of the open university system and particularly NOUN.
“We are sensitising the people, especially parents and guardians to encourage their children and wards to take advantage of NOUN,’’ he said. (NAN)
