October 2004

AU Aids in Founding of Premier New University in Nigeria

History took place in Yola, Nigeria, on October 25, when Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and American University President Benjamin Ladner broke ground on Nigeria’s first, private American-style university, ABTI—American University of Nigeria.

Based on the five-year management and consultancy agreement signed on January 1, 2004, between President Ladner and Vice President Abubakar, AU has agreed to provide advice and assistance in recruiting a senior management team, building the physical facilities, creating a new academic curriculum, and numerous other tasks

While ABTI Academy, a secondary education boarding school in Yola, will provide the necessary support and financial resources for the success of the venture, AU will play a critical advisory role, providing educational consultation to ensure the highest academic and administrative quality. The partnership will establish a model for collaboration between universities from the United States and Africa. Dr. Robert Pastor, vice president of International Affairs, and Dr. Patrick Ukata, director of the AU-ABTI-American University Office in Washington, D.C., lead American University’s advisory team.

“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 Nigerian Vice President Abubakar, a cofounder of AAUN. Abubakar’s wife, Jennifer Douglas-Abubaker, completed her master’s in International Affairs in 1994 and is pursuing her PhD in international development at SIS.

The new university will sit on 500 acres of land and initially will 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 development. In several years, the university plans to open engineering and law schools. AAUN’s initial enrollment is estimated at 200, and will gradually rise to about 7,000 students over the next 10 years. Classes are scheduled to begin in September 2005.

“Africa’s future depends on higher education,” said Dr. Ladner, “and the bridges we build for our students and faculty to collaborate and participate in this new American university will pay large educational dividends in the future.”

-Ashley Ferrell ’07

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