It is with utmost delight that I render this conspectus on the Centre for General Studies as its current Director. Like all global interfacing institutions, the Centre, has evolved strategies to nsure convenient and effective Online Learning System of General Studies for the students. The institution of General Studies in Nigerian Universities originated with the University law 1961,(E.N.L. No 21, of 1961, status 6) as “the College of General Studies”, included in the thirty-six Colleges listed for establishment. Afterwards, the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 1989 approved minimum academic requirements for General Studies in all Nigerian Universities. As such, General Studies Courses became compulsory for all categories of courses/studies in universities, with each student expected to pass five out of six of these courses before graduation. The establishment, history, aim and functions of the Centre have been fully documented in the GST Handbook.

General Studies specification introduces the concepts of the three domains of knowledge: social; culture, arts and humanities; and science, mathematics and technology. It offers candidates studying these domains an insight into all aspects of society and the way the three domains interact to make a better individual and society. Thus, General Studies offers a broad interdisciplinary program that can be tailored to match the wide variety of educational and professional goals of students. On intent, these studies are designed to equip and empower students with critical knowledge in other fields outside their chosen areas of specialization. It is expected that on exposure to the studies, graduates of this University would be better prepared to function properly in the society, having in mind that they can now view issues through multilateral perspectives. Knowledge in multitude of subjects, gained from exposure to general studies, in addition to their core specialization, ensures that students are often quite more desirable to many employers.

We offer: Philosophy and Logic, Nigerian Peoples and Culture, Use of English and Library Studies, General African Studies, Computer Studies and Entrepreneurial and Business Innovations. The Entrepreneurial and Business Innovations study has been restructured to encourage students to run their own businesses after graduation. In line with best global practices, the students now have access to well documented and easy to understand online course contents and visual tools/links in module formats. This combination of course materials make general study learning more fun and interactive. Depending on the college or university, coursework may include literature, the arts, computer science, social science, maths, science, public speaking, history, philosophy and more.

I specially appreciate the support of our amiable Vice Chancellor - Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, FAS, and the very committed staff members of the University who designed and enriched the online stages of content writing, editing, power point preparation, recording and technical input for the studies. We are also indebted to the pioneer authors, editors and tutors across the Departments of Philosophy, History, Sociology, English, Computer Science, and Faculties of Social Sciences, Science and Management Sciences (then Business Administration), who provided the initial course contents for the materials hitherto in use which formed the bedrock of the current modules.

At the University of Lagos Centre for General Studies, we will continually enrich the contents of the courses on offer to nurture robust graduates amongst our regular students, Distant Learning Institute and Continuous Education students, who are ready to undertake contemporary challenges while building better societies.

From the Director and GST staff, we encourage all students at the University of Lagos to utilise the knowledge gained from our courses to further improve their lives.