President Benjamin Ladner joined with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar to break ground on Nigeria's only private American-style university last month.
AU officials, together with several Nigerian officials, have been developing plans for the ABTI-American University of Nigeria (AAUN) since early 2003, when AU received a proposal from Abubakar asking for assistance in advising the first stages of establishing the university.
AAUN will be coed, modern, secular, technologically connected and American-style, according to Dr. Robert Pastor, vice president of International Affairs.
"ABTI ... is the company name of the different conglomerate of businesses, Nursery, Primary, Secondary and the much awaited ABTI American University," according to Haruna B. A. Mustafa on amanaonline.com
"They really want us to help on a permanent basis," Pastor said. AU has "negotiated internally, within AU, and externally, with [Nigerian officials]... for a five-year management consultancy agreement. They would pay us for our services to advise them on how to build the entire university, both the physical structures, the curriculum and the recruitment of the senior management team." The amount AU is being paid was not disclosed.
Ladner signed the agreement on Jan. 1 and development of the school began shortly thereafter.
"[Nigerian officials] had a bold vision, all they wanted from us was
advice," Pastor said. "We felt this could be a turning point for both
Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa where education has deteriorated. We believe that this University could become a model for all of sub-Saharan Africa. [Officials have a] desire to have this University become something quite different from any other."
AU officials have hired a president and a vice president of academic affairs, have advised the Nigerian government on architectural drawings and master plans, on the curriculum, and are currently in the process or recruiting the rest of the senior management team and the faculty, according to Pastor.
"We have moved very quickly [in establishing the university]," Pastor said.
Dr. David Huwiler, former president of the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan (no association with AU), began working at AAUN in September, according to The Washington Post. Dr. V. James Garofalo, former dean of the School of Education at Aquinas College in Michigan, will join him as vice president.
Dr. Peter Lewis, professor and director of the Council for African Studies in SIS, said this is an important development.
"Nigeria is a very poor country that has been badly governed for years. It's public education system has been deteriorating for decades, so there is a huge demand [for a private university]," said Lewis, who has been heavily involved with AAUN developments.
"Over one million applicants compete for 100,000 slots in the current standard school system," said Lewis. An average student attending a public school receives about two percent of the resources students receive at AU, he said.
AAUN is located in Yola, in an eastern part of Nigeria in a Muslim region called Adamawa. The area has a population of 88,500. Nigeria is a nation with a 40 percent Christian, 50 percent Muslim population and an oil-based economy.
AAUN will start with only 200 students and include three schools: Arts and Sciences, Entrepreneurial Studies and Business Management, and Information Technology and Communication, selected by ABTI because of their relevance to Nigeria's government, according to a recent press release. Officials plan to expand to 7,000 students within 10 years.
"There is really a commitment to quality among the leaders in Nigeria," he said.
AU hopes to develop an exchange program for students in three years, once
AAUN is fully established, according to Pastor.
"I think it's a good experience to go to school in a developing country to see how it works," said Ben Sander, a sophomore in SIS who is going abroad to Nairobi, Kenya next fall. "It's much different than going to school in
the States where we have a lot of amenities."
Abubakar said he is excited about the start of the university.
"We are moving closer to my dream of having a world-class university in Nigeria, and that is signified by the involvement of American University, one of the top universities in the world," said Abubakar in a press release. Abubakar's wife, Jennifer, is a Ph.D. student in SIS.
AAUN is the second university AU has helped establish, along with the American University of Sharjah, founded in 1997. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place on October 25, 2004. AAUN is scheduled to begin classes in September 2005.
More information regarding the university can be found at www.abti-american.edu.ng.
