The National Open University of Nigeria was first established on the 22nd July 1983 by Act No. 6 of the National Assembly. It is the first and only single-mode university in Nigeria that is dedicated to the provision of higher education through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode. Shortly after the National Open University Act of 1983 by which the University was established, it was on the 25th April 1984 suspended. In the Nation’s search for a means of providing education, which is functional, cost-effective and flexible, for all her citizens, a National Workshop on Distance Education was held in September 2000. Consequently, eighteen years after the suspension, the University was resuscitated as the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) on 1st October 2002.  NOUN operates the open and distance education system which the National Policy on Education describes as a system that encompasses education for all, education for life, lifelong learning, and self-learning among others.

In 2013 the then School of Science and Technology birthed two other Schools and was hence split into three in line with the programmes mounted. Consequently, we had the School of Agricultural Sciences, School of Health Sciences and School of Science and Technology without defined departments.  By 2016, under the Vice Chancellorship of Prof. Abdallah Uba Adamu, the University adopted the faculty system with defined departments and the School of Science and Technology metamorphosed into the Faculty of Sciences. The Department of Computer Science was one of the departments that pioneered the faculty. Thereafter, the Faculty of Computing was established in 2023 following senate’s approval at its hybrid 104th meeting held on Tuesday. 5th September 2023. The faculty is blessed with twenty-eight full time Academic staff and several Facilitators/part time academic staff with PHD and specialisation in various fields of Computing.

The Faculty of Computing has three Departments namely: Computer Science, Information Systems and Technology, Cyber Security. The curricula of our programmes are robust incorporating both theory and practical. 

The handbook gives an overview of the different programmes mounted by the different departments of the Faculty. It provides a summary of the course outline and details of the curriculum to cover.  It also provides information on graduation requirements and it is a must-have for any serious-minded student of the Faculty of Computing. The faculty handbook also contains information related to student registration, choice of courses, programme duration, graduation requirements, together with other relevant matters that will enhance the students understanding of the Faculty and its programmes as well as job prospects. Contained also in the handbook, is a brief history of the National Open University of Nigeria.

 It is therefore quite expedient that all students of the Faculty have a copy of this handbook, which will also assist them in decision making. For those who may be planning to undertake a programme in our faculty of excellence, this handbook also comes in handy. Our programmes are tailored towards lifelong learning because we believe there should be no impediment to learning. Programmes curricula are geared at ensuring access to as many people as qualify to pursue knowledge in the science domain and enhance national development. I, therefore, welcome you to the Faculty of Computing.