allAfrica.com: Nigeria: American University of Nigeria - There's No Need Travelling Abroa (Page 1 of 2)

Not too long ago, the National Universities Commission (NUC), then under the auspices of Professor Peter Okebukola, issued a circular directing academic personnels in Nigeria ivory towers to either acquire a doctorate degree or cease being lecturers by December 31, 2008.

This sudden bombshell, no doubt, took them by surprise considering the fact that about eighty percent of them are lecturing with masters' degree. And out of this number, only a handful seem to have had a vast wealth of experience in their various fields of endeavour – of course, that makes them qualified. But the bulk of about sixty-nine percent dabbled into the noble profession, just to eke out a living by all.

Worse still is that the basic facilities cum amenities, which ordinarily should enhance learning, are not even on ground. Rather, the entire system is being politicised by state governors and desperate politicians who tenaciously seek to propagate their selfish political ambitions through this platform. As much as sincere and concerned individuals or groups tried and keep trying to reverse the rot, the more it remained retrogressed.

But sometime in 2003, the then vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, plunged into doing what 'Napoleon' couldn't do. His mind was made and he took a decision; he decided to take a step for others to follow. Thus, he slowly and tardily initiated the process of redefining university education in Nigeria. And in September 2005, his vision gave birth to the prestigious ABTI – American University of Nigeria (now known as American University of Nigeria). Surprisingly, this world class university has not only dusted off the so-called efforts of private universities in Nigeria, it has belittled the all-inspiring achievements of global universities in America, the UK, Europe and Asia.

American University of Nigeria (AUN) is a world-class institution of higher education modeled after the American curriculum and offering degree programmes in the school of Business and Entrepreneurship, the school of Information Technology and Communications, and the school of Arts and Science. The campus is totally wireless with 24-hour internet access.

Over the time, AUN has grown steadily to include five new, state-of-the art buildings that are fully air-conditioned and multi-storey building. The teaching staff of 43 lecturers and professors is 89 percent American trained and degreed. Class sizes are small with an average of 11 students to one professor. Students are given laptop computers upon enrollment, and are expected to use the laptops throughout their course work.

The American-based curriculum includes core courses in the humanities and the sciences required of every student. Other core courses include entry level Information Technology and Business Entrepreneurship. Students who successfully follow the curriculum for their majors are able to graduate in four years.

Recently, four student majors in the department of Petroleum Chemistry sat down together to talk about the programme with university officials. Not so long into the chat, it became obvious that these majors are not only passionate about the programme, they are also good friends. The students are Somioluwa Gbadamosi, age 20 from Lagos; Bilal Mustapha (19) from Kebbi, Iyyad Ghraizi (19) from Lebanon, and Farida Dan Ali (18) from Sokoto.

When asked how he became interested in Petroleum Chemistry, taking into consideration that AUN is the first to offer among the entire African university, Bilal had this to say: "Well, I was initially in the Natural Sciences programme. However, I had a friend who always talked about the Petroleum Chemistry programme. I got interested, met Professor Turek who gave me an insight into the programme, and I joined up."

On the uniqueness of the programme, Bilal opined that, "Nigeria's economy is petroleum driven and since this is so, it would be good if students can stay in Nigeria and help improve its economy." However, Farida was quick to point out that "By working in the petroleum sector, we can improve Nigeria's economy. As a woman, it gives me joy that I'll be the pacesetter of Nigerian women who would have received a very high quality education in Nigeria and work in the downstream sector."

What are their prospects for employment? Somioluwa opined that "Oil companies are always on the look-out for people who specialise in newer aspects of petroleum, so I'm sure we would be hired even before we graduate from AUN."

And what do they do in their lab hours, and if the equipment are state-of-the art? Iyad stated that, "we use computers to study various chemical reactions and graphically represent them in a way that they can make sense."

And what is the philosophy behind the corporate existence of the American University of Nigeria? Its director of public affairs, Abubakar Abba Tahir, pointed out that: "Every year, thousands of Africa's most gifted children travel abroad in search of world class university education. They do this not because there are no universities in Nigeria, but the academic calendar has not been stable. Students who are supposed to read a five-year programme end up spending six, seven, eight or nine years.

"Secondly, the facilities and equipment are obsolete. Half the student's morale is always dampened… that is why founders of this university found it not really necessary but highly desirable to give Nigeria a world-class university, so that we can shorten both the distance and cost of acquiring world class university education abroad."

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