PROFESSOR JOSHUA ROTIMI OGIDAN

PROFESSOR JOSHUA ROTIMI OGIDAN is a distinguished scholar and a foundation staff of the National Open University of Nigeria. He studied Guidance and Counselling in the University of Ilorin at B Ed, M Ed and Ph D degree programmes in 1987, 1989 and 1999 respectively. In the Ph D programme, he carried out his final research on ‘A cross ethnic study of the attitude, adjustment needs and support systems of retired Nigeria Federal Civil Servants’.

Thereafter, he worked on several research areas in Counselling, Psychology, Teacher Education and ODL. He is an erudite scholar with about 60 publications in the national and international reputable Journals. Among the award won through his research reports were by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in Nigeria and the British Educational Research Association in UK. He also served as the Executive Director of the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010-2020 which afforded him the privilege of working with Vice Chancellors and Rectors in some of the Universities in Africa for the improvement of access to quality ODL among Higher Education Institutions in Africa. During this period, he was able to forge partnerships among the ACDE members and institutions/organisations such as the University of Maryland University College USA, Open University of United Kingdom, Shanghai Open University China, UNESCO in Paris, African Union, International+ Council for Open and Distance Education in Oslo and the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver, Canada. As the Executive Director of the ACDE, he provided effective leadership and guidance in the operations of ODL/E-learning among Higher Education institutions where ODL is practiced in Africa and beyond which afforded him the opportunities to visit and present academic papers in conferences and workshops in Shanghai Open University in China, Brazil,

Harvard University in USA, Open University of Tanzania, Open University of Hongkong, Open University of Sudan, Tianjin in China, National Open University of Nigeria and African Virtual University in Nairobi. He also provided exemplary leadership in the co-ordination of successful triennial African Council for Distance Education 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Conferences and General Assembly held at the National Open University of Nigeria -2008, Open University of Tanzania – 2011, Zimbabwe Open University – 2014 and the Open University of Sudan – 2017 respectively.He played remarkable role in the establishment of the Pan African University and the Pan African Virtual & E-learning University in Cameroon. He was a lead Facilitator for an online training by ZOOM of over 1760 (One thousand seven hundred and sixty) professional teachers/lecturers across Africa including participants from the Anglophone, Arabophone, Francophone and Portuguese speaking countries during the covid-19 pandemic era in July–September, 2020.The training was sponsored by the Open University of United Kingdom with partners such as the Teacher Education in the Sub Saharan Africa (TESSA) and Institute of Educational Technology OU UK. It was the success of the training on how to help teachers/lecturers move teaching online and as well to possess 21st century skills that earned him the award of Academic Champion of Africa by the Teacher Education in the Sub- Sahara Africa (TESSA).He bagged the

As a member of the Tuning Africa (A European Union/African Union sponsored education project), he worked relentlessly with other teachers/lecturers to ensure that, curriculum for teaching reflect quality provisions to meet the needs of the society. His role as a member of the Teachers’ Taskforce for Education (An arm of the UNESCO) took him to several countries across the world including USA, Jamaica, South Africa, Senegal Cameroun, Nairobi, Mexico and Morocco to deliberate on the improvement of quality teaching output among teachers. He is a member of the Counselling Association of Nigeria (CASSON), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), International Conference for Educational Management and Technology (ICEMT), African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN) and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) the Six Reviews of Accreditation Instruments.

Professor Rotimi Ogidan PhD MCASSON,
Director: National Open University of Nigeria, McCarthy Study Center:
Academic Champion & Ambassador:Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa .(TESSA) Immediate Past Executive Director: African Council for Distance Education
Chairman : Technical Committee for Implementation of Open Schooling Programme in Nigeria