 AU delegation on a site visit with Vice President of Nigeria, |
International Affairs
New Partnership in Nigeria
CONSTRUCTION CREWS HAVE BROKEN GROUND on ABTI-American University of Nigeria (AAUN), and AU is working closely with AAUN to recruit a new president and management team and design courses.
The partnership between AU and ABTI began with a visit early in 2003 by Dr. Louis Goodman, dean of the School of International Service (SIS), and SIS Professor Peter Lewis, one of our nation's foremost experts on Nigeria and Africa. AU's previous experience was with the very successful AU Sharjah, which was conceived seven years ago, and was just accredited in the United States.
AAUN wanted AU advice, and Dr. Robert Pastor's team prepared a detailed analysis of AAUN's plans. The team included Dean Goodman, Dean Kay Mussell of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Lewis, Nana An (Finance Department), Mark Huey, (President's Office), and Dr. James Lee (SIS).
The team was invited to the Nigerian Presidential Inauguration in May 2003 and also visited the site of the new University in Yola, northeast Nigeria. After intense negotiations, AU President Dr. Benjamin Ladner and Nigeria's Vice President Atiku Abubakar signed a five-year management consultancy agreement on December 31, 2003.
The new university will begin with three schools-arts and sciences, entrepreneurial studies and business management, and information technology-and will later add a law school and a school of engineering.
Like its counterpart in Sharjah, AAUN will be an American style secular and co-educational university, with a similar academic calendar and an AU course structure. AU faculty and students will be able to teach and study at AAUN. "Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and a quality American-style university could be a model and an inspiration for all those who hope for Africa's rejuvenation," said Dr. Pastor.