Introduction
In Nigeria, like in most other countries, most students are always confronted with the decision of whether to pursue their academic career within the four walls of an institution or outside it.

The difference between the two types is clear. The first option has to do with formal type of education while the second deals with non-formal education. This second type also has several sub types, including but not limited to: extra-mural classes, vocational education and distance education. It is my intention in this article to discuss the advantages of distance education as a form of adult education and to commend its promotion to the three tiers of government in Nigeria.

Distance learning, as the name suggests, is a type of education that attracts people from distant places. Distance here connotes any place outside the place where the organisers of the programme are. This means that learning can attract people from the immediate environment of the agency responsible for education or far remote. The philosophy here is that distance is no barrier to education.
In this technological age, where the world, itself, has been turned to a global village, distance education thrives. This is, in so far, as students, equipped with the effective operation of the computer, with its attendant online operations, can access education through many apps like the WhatsApp, the email, the webinar, the zoom, the Facebook, etc.

Advantages
There are so many advantages of distance learning. I will concentrate on only a few very important ones because of space. Distance learning is adaptable, adjustable, technology-advancing, flexible, time-saving, job-protecting, cost-effective, ambition fulfilling, status-enhancing and well-recognized. I will start with the adaptive nature of distance learning.

Distance learning is adaptable in the sense that it enables the student to study anywhere. Students under distance learning are not pinned down under one condition of classroom learning. They can, therefore, go at their pace, study at their convenient time and make use of any environment to study. Indeed, as the student is not restricted to the classroom, he can study in the airplane or yacht if he likes. The fact that he is not face-to-face with any teacher also enables him to do some other things simultaneously, if they will not distract him.

Besides, distance learning is adjustable because it can be modified for a new use. The organizers of distance learning have often modified their strategies in conformity with new technology and other dynamic societal innovations. For example, in contemporary time, technology has advanced to the stage of organizers making use of zoom, webinar, skype, etc. to reach their students. The constant use of these apps has even advertised distance learning as an acceptable mode of education. This is against the backdrop that most formal school settings are just struggling in their use of the tools which have become commonplace with distance learners.

Aligned to this is the advancement in technology of the student himself. No student can go far in distance learning without the knowledge of the computer. It is for this reason that the student tries hard to learn the rudiments of the computer, at least, to have enough knowledge of the apps and computer operations that will assist him in receiving instructions, attending seminars and conferences and submitting assignments. This is especially so for the students coming from underdeveloped countries.

Furthermore, distance learning is flexible in that it allows the student to go at his own pace. There is no mad rush in distance learning as it is specifically based on individual student’s considerations.

For example, while a student may want to spread the pace of learning to four years, another student may settle for two years. Indeed, individual differences are taken into consideration by both the student and the organisers.

This is taking into cognizance the fact that individuals differ in their state of readiness, commitment, time allowance and motivation. Flexibility allows the student to move according to his pre-planned arrangement and because he already has the syllabus, the course materials and the modus operandi of operations, he is able to move at his own pace.

Another advantage of distance learning is that it is time-saving. By the virtue of the fact that distance learning is not strictly regimented as in formal learning, the student is able to work out how he hopes to spend his time to his best advantage. It is the best option for a student who does not have enough time to spare to attend to the hustle-bustle of formal learning. Also, you are almost sure of when to finish your course with distance learning unlike in the formal learning where unforeseen contingencies like students’ riot, academic conferences, bad weather or unexpected diseases (like coronavirus) militate highly against your academic pursuit.

Moreover, distance learning is job-protecting. Distance learning is specifically tailored towards ensuring job security. It is meant for people who are on the job and cannot afford the luxury of attending formal schools where they are precluded from retaining their jobs.
Again, distance learning is cost-effective. Distance education is relatively cheap. The fact that you will also keep your job while studying makes it cost effective.

Besides, continuing education is ambition-fulfilling. If you want to earn a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree and you are constrained by any of the afore-mentioned factors like time, pace, financial buoyancy, you can fulfil your ambition through distance education, without any strings attached.
Related to the above is the fact that distance education is status-enhancing. If you are on a job that requires more education for you to be promoted, distance learning will equip you without leaving your job.

Conclusion
To conclude this piece, I want to recommend that distance learning be greatly encouraged and financed by governments at all levels in Nigeria. This is against the backdrop that it has now gained recognition globally. I consider this as the core of its enduring legacy. Gone were the days when the stereotype regarding the inferiority of distance learning to formal learning was in vogue. Now, the society judges your ability, not on whether you went through formal education or distance learning but on your intellectual sophistication in your area. Now that the society has discovered that distance learning students are knowledgeable, versatile, reliable, dependable and, most importantly, dynamic, we need to make a clarion call to the three tiers of government in Nigeria to give it a boost that it deserves.
Dr. Babatunde, a legal practitioner, writes from Zagreb, Croatia, Eastern Europe.