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”. In line with the vision, thoughts and aspirations of the founding fathers of the university, the current administration seeks to make Nasarawa State University a 21st-century academic giant and pacesetter in teaching, research and innovation tailored towards people-oriented community service national development, global visibility and competitiveness.
The vision of the university is “to be a world-class centre of excellence for the development of the individual and society” and a mission to provide and promote qualitative, innovative and stimulating teaching, learning and research environment to enable individuals to develop their full potential for efficient, effective, dedicated and selfless service to the state, the nation and humanity
The goals and objectives of the University are premised on the University’s core functions of teaching, learning, research, community service, partnerships and collaboration.
In keeping with global trends, the university is re-appraising and re-examining its structure, 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 21st-century world.
From its 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 people that constitute the population of the country where a very high percentage of the youths and adults alike are yenning for higher education. The university has also been recording an astronomical increase, year after year in the demand for admission by both indigenes of Nasarawa State and non-indigenes alike to the extent that the university is unable to satisfy the admission needs of the teeming population that has subscribed for admission. The high demand for admission into the university could be attributed to the quality of education being offered by the university. Nasarawa State University has continued to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to education as a tool for societal, state, national and personal development, and as an inalienable right of every citizen. The socio-economic dimensions of providing education for all are huge, bearing in mind the large and growing population of people seeking tertiary education, especially in the state and beyond. The university also realises the need to take advantage of 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 distance learning.
Nasarawa State University, in line with the Nigerian National Policy on Education (2004) has over the years recognized the place of open and distance learning in achieving lifelong education. The university has over the years demonstrated its commitment to enhancing lifelong education for sustainable human capital development.
Based on its resolve to re-position itself to meet the aspirations of the founding fathers and to compete favourably in the ever-changing academic world, the Nasarawa State University administration proposed to its Senate the establishment of an Open and distance learning Centre. This proposal was approved by the Senate and ratified by the Governing Council of the university based on the amendment and inclusion of the establishment of an Open and Distance Learning Centre and commencement of distance learning programmes in the strategic documents of the university.
The establishment of open distance learning education is one of the key institutional strategies of Nasarawa State University to enhance its ranking status among universities in Nigeria and across the globe as it believes that this is one of the ways to achieve global visibility, competitiveness and increase in access to quality university education for the over 20000 candidates who subscribe to the university annually and 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 a permanent change of residence during the period of studentship. The University has observed therefore that the distance learning mode of programme delivery is now requisite at this stage in the development of the University. In careful consideration of this trend, the University Senate and Governing Council have with a deep sense of responsibility decided to respond positively by proposing to venture into the distance learning mode, by establishing a Centre for Distance Learning, not only for the benefit of the Nigerian people but for the benefits of the entire world.
The Nasarawa State University Open and Distance Learning programme model will 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 blended 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.