Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has temporarily suspended admission of undergraduate students into its Law programme.
It said the decision did not invalidate previous certificates but was to afford the institution the opportunity to conclude discussions and negotiation with Council for Legal Education and other relevant government agencies as regards the participation of its graduates in Law school.
Its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdallah, Uba Adamu, who announced the decision at a pre-convocation press conference in Abuja, explained that students currently studying the course in NOUN campuses would not be affected by the decision.
He confessed that NOUN had received impressive applications from interested students, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent decision to endorse the changes made in the NOUN’s establishment act.
He hinted that NOUN was considering the establishment of a postgraduate programme in Law, to give the opportunity to Law graduates to acquire further education, pending the conclusion of the negotiation with relevant government agencies and subsequent approval to enrol in Law school
The VC used the opportunity to announce that no fewer than 20, 799 students would be awarded various classes of degrees at the varsity’s 8th convocation scheduled to hold in Abuja this weekend.
Out of the figure, 15,642 candidates are undergraduates, out of which 103 students made first class, 5,157, he added, are postgraduate students.
He claimed that the figure is the highest single graduation of students in a single year in any Nigerian university.
Meanwhile, Bala, Salihu Magaji, from the Department of Islamic Studies has emerged 2019 best graduating student.