It was 4 PM on a wet Tuesday afternoon, April twenty ninth, 2025, when scores of individuals trooped into the premises of a four-story constructing on the coronary heart of Nigeria’s startup capital, Yaba, skittering to get shade from the unrelenting rain, which had been falling all afternoon. 

These folks hurrying inside weren’t merely in search of shelter. They have been attending the launch of the newly constructed research centre of Nigeria’s first totally accredited non-public open college, MIVA.

Launched in 2023 by edtech pioneer uLesson, MIVA provides undergraduate and postgraduate levels in computing and administration programs comparable to pc science, software program engineering, accounting, economics, enterprise administration, public coverage & administration, knowledge science, and cybersecurity. Two years and over 9,000 learners later, MIVA is bringing studying nearer to its college students.

“There are various issues extra essential than simply learning. Having a group is considered one of them,” Sim Shagaya, chancellor of the college, stated as he welcomed the group to the opening ceremony of the research centre launch.

“The college is not only a spot to review; it’s a group the place you join with like-minded folks,” the famend entrepreneur continued, delivering his remarks in a fashion paying homage to distinguished, Ivy League addresses.

The group, largely MIVA college students, journalists, and would-be learners who got here to discover the newly opened house, cheered in applause after his speech. From a modest 500 college students in 2023, MIVA is on observe to surpass 10,000 by Might, with plans to succeed in 20,000 by yr’s finish and a daring goal of 100,000 college students by 2027. Rolling out extra research centres like this one can be key to reaching that imaginative and prescient.

MIVA Open College is likely one of the open universities fixing the capability drawback in Nigeria’s tertiary schooling system. Of the 1.8 million college students who sat for the Joint Matriculation Board (JAMB) exams, an entry examination into Nigerian tertiary establishments in 2022, solely 600,000 have been admitted. Nigeria’s 170 universities can solely maintain 1.8 million college students, and there usually are not sufficient locations for even those that move school entry exams.

The research centre—considered one of many who the college plans to launch—sits in a four-story high-spec house housing classrooms, co-working areas, a health club (though not but outfitted on the time of this report), a CBT centre, and a rooftop for occasions.

MIVA is required by Nigerian universities’ legislation to have considered one of these centres to conduct examinations for undergraduate college students. Nonetheless, the bodily centres are an acquisition play for the college to draw new learners. MIVA makes use of its bodily hubs to imitate the “micro-campus” technique pioneered by U.S.-based Nationwide College, which operates over 250 centres and serves half one million college students. 

“We’re impressed by how bodily presence can correlate with consumer progress,” Iheanyi Akwitti, MIVA’s registrar and chief tutorial officer, informed TechCabal, citing knowledge that confirmed a direct relationship between campus footprint and enrollment spikes.

Akwitti says the launch of the research centre shouldn’t be motivated by income, though it’ll generate profits by leasing out a number of the services for exterior use. The registrar added that MIVA will launch related research centres in underserved rural areas throughout the nation, areas with out entry to the web and electrical energy.

Whereas tuition stays Miva’s core income stream, the research centres open new earnings verticals.  The centres will double as public co-working areas and occasion venues throughout non-exam intervals. Health club memberships and different paid facilities are additionally open to non-students. 

This mixed-use mannequin offsets prices whereas driving foot site visitors and model visibility. “It permits us to cost effectively, stay worth aggressive, and nonetheless generate returns,” stated Aniekeme Umoh, MIVA’s chief working officer. 

MIVA’s research centre launch comes as extra edtech startups throughout the nation are mixing bodily areas with their digital fashions. AltSchool not too long ago arrange campuses in Malta, introducing a hybrid method the place learners can have in-person studying classes with tutors. Whereas these edtechs primarily provide on-line studying to their customers, they acknowledge that some components—face-to-face interplay and group—of conventional schooling stay invaluable and are integrating each approaches to higher serve college students’ evolving wants.

The rain lastly lets up at 4:52 PM, and the group, now just a little extra curious, recordsdata by means of the glass doorways for a tour of the brand new MIVA flagship. Laughter bounces off the partitions as college students and would-be learners peek into classrooms, check out the co-working areas, and picture rooftop events underneath clearer skies.

Because the constructing tour wrapped up, college students and visitors gathered within the convention room. Right here, MIVA unveiled MIND, the college’s new AI-powered studying assistant. In contrast to a typical chatbot, MIND is designed to combine seamlessly into every scholar’s studying expertise, providing adaptive suggestions, interactive quizzing, and personalised help that would redefine how Nigerian college students research and succeed.

With a deliberate launch for Might, MIND can be obtainable to MBA college students learning on the college, serving to them research by means of case research and testing for important considering, comprehension, and communication. 

“Writing an essay shouldn’t be the truest check of understanding,” stated Ayooluwa Nihinlola, MIVA’s chief content material officer. “Dialog is one of the simplest ways to know the way folks be taught. So the core of the concept behind MIND is to permit college students to have real-time conversations with the AI.” 

With the rain easing and town lights approaching outdoors, it was evident that this launch marked the beginning of one thing new. The primary flagship centre is open, however MIVA’s ambitions are larger, and the rollout is barely choosing up pace.