As part of the campaign to take education to the people at the lowest rung of the social ladder, the Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, has enlisted the support of elected members of the National Assembly to create awareness among their constituents about the potentials of Open and Distance Learning.

Adamu, who stated this during a courtesy visit to the Senator representing Kano North Senatorial Zone at the National Assembly, Abuja, Senator Barau Jibrin, said this became necessary in view of the need to bring on board young girls and women who, as a result of cultural practices peculiar to their communities, have been denied access to education over the years.

He explained that such cultural practices had relegated the womenfolk in the northern part of the country to the background and denied them their pride of place in nation-building.

The Vice-Chancellor said with flexible and affordable education being championed by the university, women now have unfettered access to education and this would help remove prejudices.

In response, Senator Jibrin expressed his readiness to partner with the authorities of the university in spreading the potentials inherent in studying through the open and distance learning mode of education among his constituents.

The Senator, who expressed his interest in the ODL mode of education, disclosed that he had earlier sponsored a bill for a slight amendment of the Act setting up the NOUN in order to further project it as an institution driven by information and communication technology.

He explained that the bill, which is currently undergoing second reading in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly, when passed, would enable the university operate in tandem with modern technology obtainable in other ODL institutions around the world.

Jibrin also pledged to sponsor the establishment of a second NOUN Study Centre in Kano to complement the existing one in order to make education more accessible for his constituents.