MIVA Open University says it has inaugurated its flagship Lagos study centre, harnessing AI to bridge Nigeria’s university admission gap and expand access to quality education.
In a statement in Lagos on Thursday, the University noted that over 900,000 qualified students are denied university admission annually due to capacity limitations at conventional universities in the country.
Miva said that it believed the future of accessible, high-quality tertiary education lay in tech-powered learning.
Commenting, Sim Shagaya, Chancellor of Miva Open University and Group Chief Executive Officer of uLesson, said the school was deploying a blended learning model as a perfect response to the urgent need for smart learning for all without pedestrian limitations.
“Blended learning or hybrid learning is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for online interaction with traditional place-based classroom methods,” Shagaya said.
Quoting data from Nigeria’s Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), he noted that more than two million candidates sat for entrance examinations into the tertiary institutions every year.
“In the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, 2.02 million Nigerians sat for the exams.
“Typically, about 1.5 million qualify for university admission but there are fewer than 600,000 available slots, leaving roughly 900,000 qualified students without access to higher education every year,” Shagaya said.
He said that in a bid to bridge the gap using emerging technology, Miva’s strategy was centred on an AI-powered teaching engine called Mind.
According to him, the platform offers a personalised learning experience designed to replicate and potentially exceed the quality of traditional classroom teaching.
“With this backdrop, Mind aims at scaling education delivery without compromising quality.
“The AI adapts to each student’s learning style, tracks progress, and creates a tailored educational journey. It is like having millions of personalised teachers.
“The human faculty are still present, but the AI enables quality at scale, and at a lower cost,” he explained.
Shagaya noted that while Miva was fundamentally a tech-driven open university, it integrated physical touchpoints such as a blended learning model combining digital delivery with real-world infrastructure.
Similarly, Prof. Tayo Arulogun, the Vice-Chancellor of Miva, said that the school’s hybrid approach addressed both cultural expectations and infrastructural realities in Nigeria.
“The National Universities Commission (NUC) recommends blended learning, not just online. So, we are providing physical centres where students can interact, access electricity, internet, labs, and other support systems,” Arulogun said.
While describing deployment of blended learning as the first of its kind in Africa, he said the newly opened Lagos study centre was the first of many planned for major Nigerian cities.
He disclosed that more compact community centres were slated for all the 774 local government areas across the country.
“Our model ensures inclusivity, whether you are in Lagos or Abuja with access to our flagship centres or in more remote areas like Mubi or Damaturu, where reliable internet and power enable you to fully participate in our programmes,” he said.
He added that Miva University aimed to dispel the perception that Open University learning lacked real-world application by ensuring that students get hands-on learning with facilities like computer-based testing (CBT) centres and virtual labs.
“We want students to get an experience close to what they would in a conventional university such as labs, physical libraries and face-to-face interaction with faculty,” Arulogun added.
Also, Mr Oladipo Olugbemi, Chief People Officer, said that enrolment grew from just over 500 students in its first cohort to more than 5,000 by the end of 2024.
He said that projections indicate over 17,000 students by the end of 2025, with a target of surpassing 100,000 by 2027.
“Our goal is to eventually enrol one million students within a decade. This is achievable with technology and our scalable model,” Olugbemi said.
According to him, affordability is another cornerstone of Miva’s approach, with undergraduate tuition ranging between N300,000 and N350,000 per year, and postgraduate courses like Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) priced under N1 million.
He noted that since the university secured its NUC licence in May 2023, Miva had rapidly scaled up both infrastructure and student enrolment
