The National Open University of Nigeria is an ODL institution renowned for providing functional, flexible, accessible, cost-effective education adequate for flourishing in the 21st  century and beyond. Right from our first inception in July 1983, our mandate has remained to deliver university education at the doorstep of every interested  Nigerian. The founding president,  Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the first executive president of Nigeria, envisioned a university with the capacity to admit and meet the education and skill needs of citizens no matter their status and circumstances. This vision was predicated on the realization that  a sustainable democracy, functional economy,   happy  and prosperous   people,  all  depend  on knowledgeable citizens. Meeting the educational needs of such  citizens in a highly populous country like' Nigeria was beyond the capacity of Nigeria's conventional higher institutions.