Nasarawa State University, Keffi was established in 2001 under the Nasarawa State Law No. 2 of 2001as passed by the stated House of Assembly. The university was founded upon the philosophy of the, “believe in excellence, creativity, productivity and freedom of conscience for the advancement of individual and humanity.” The mandate of the university is to pursue and foster “knowledge for development”. Nasarawa State University has been in the forefront of the entrenchment of quality and functional university education.

In its 23 years of existence, Nasarawa State University has developed and institutionalized the tradition of excellence in fulfilling its, mandate, vision and mission of developing and producing well-grounded graduates who are morally and academically sound equipped with appropriate skills and competences required in our 21^st century world.

In keeping with global trends, the university is re-appraising its structures, policies and processes in line with its vision and mission and aspirations of the founding fathers with a view to improving performance on our mandate and repositioning our university to meet the educational challenges and expectations of the 21^st century world.

From inception till now, the University has focused on the face-to-face mode of programme delivery. It is observed however that this mode is grossly inadequate for meeting the demand for higher level education, especially among the over 200 million Nigerians, a very percentage of which are youths and adults alike who are yenning for higher education. It is also of note that the university has also been recording an astronomical increase, in the demand for admission to which the university has not been able to meet. The high demand for admission into the university could be attributed to the quality of education being offered by the university and the fast infrastructural development of the university.

The university is conscious of the need to satisfy the educational needs of our teeming population especially those who otherwise would have been deprived through the conventional process because of employment, age, and other social and economic commitments. Furthermore, the educational services being offered in the University are also demanded by foreign candidates who are not desirous of permanent change of residence during the period of studentship. The university therefore wishes to take advantage of the emerging developments in the field of information and communications technology (ICT), which had revolutionised the techniques and methods of instructional deliveries in all forms of formal and non-formal education.

The university is very much aware, following current global trends in education delivery, that educational institutions, especially universities will in the nearest future be defined and ranked not only by physical growth in learning infrastructure but also by the creative and innovative deployment of ICT in teaching, learning, research and educational administration to satisfy learner needs in diverse locations. Across the world, there is increasing demand for this form of education called open and distance learning.

The Nasarawa State University Open and Distance e-Learning programme model has been planned to involve the applications of Multimedia Technologies that support electronic instructional delivery (e-learning), as well as independent learning. Physical contact will be reduced to the barest minimum. In this programme, all learning processes will be automated including application for entry, short-listing, payment, administration and lecture delivery using world-class Student Information Systems (SIS). The University will therefore operate the hybrid mode of Distance Learning. Specifically, this Centre for Open and Distance e-Learning will deliver selected academic programmes of the University to the global candidates and students synchronously or asynchronously through ICT-enabled supported blended learning (IESBL) model.

Our course development experts have put together up-to-date user-friendly course materials both in hard and electronic forms to assist our ODeL students in their well facilitated independent learning. All our students are expected to have appropriate ICT skills to enable them cope with the ICT-enabled supported blended learning (IESBL) model.

It is my singular pleasure and honour to welcome you to our Open Distance e-Learning programme while wishing you a pleasant, engaging and fulfilling study period with Nasarawa State University, Keffi.