The Role of the American University of Nigeria - Case Study Example

The role of the American of Nigeria in fostering peace and development in Nigeria al affiliation The role of the American University of Nigeria in fostering peace and development in Nigeria Case Overview This is a case that dares students to confront the economic and cultural issues that have continually troubled northern Nigeria over the years. The northern part of Nigeria has in the recent past experienced numerous terrorist attacks. This situation has led to a lot of social harm, political unrest and financial destruction in this part of Nigeria. This wave of terror has spread to a private university located on the Cameroonian border. Accordingly, students have been urged to become more proactive in fighting terror and promoting peace. The challenge is for students to strategize on how they are going to contribute to the university’s aim of becoming a leading developmental university. Students are advised to spend sometime away from normal class hours, to research on the impact of terror on the society and the prospects for peace. Case Synopsis This case-study requires students to come up with peace strategies. These strategies should reflect a growth-based university that serves the needs of the society. The university’s president is charged with the responsibility of developing a plan of five years that will see the university attain its target. The faculty will cooperate with the students to contribute to the growth of the university into what its founder desired it to be. The results of this case study will have an impact on northern Nigeria, whole of Nigeria and Africa at large. Overview The university has developed a strategic plan to run for five years, beginning in 2011 with the approval of the board. The main goal of the university is to become an institution that promotes development in Nigeria and Africa at large. In this way, the faculty and students are motivated to work towards attaining this goal. In particular, students are encouraged to take up leadership courses that can prepare them to lead the community and the country in future. By taking up these classes, students will use the knowledge acquired to transform the society and bring about peaceful co-existence. The Situation The university has come up with a peace initiative, the first of its kind in Nigeria, to bring about peace and harmony in northern Nigeria. This peace initiative was occasioned by the rise in terrorism and violence among communities living in this region. Snapshot of Nigeria Nigeria is situated in Africa to the west and is one of the largest countries in that region. Today, Nigeria is reported to be the most highly inhabited country in Africa. Nigeria has had its fair share of challenges since independence. Governance and the fight against poverty have proved to be an uphill task for the country that ranks second in oil production in Africa. Nigeria has been haunted by lack of democracy, which has led to a civil war and a chain of martial autocracies, coupled with religious intolerance. Majority of Nigerians are very poor, despite the country being one of the major oil producers in the continent. The rich and powerful end up with all the wealth from oil sales, through corrupt dealings. As a result, social amenities in Nigeria, such as roads are in a deplorable condition. Employment is hard to find in Nigeria, with many people working in the informal sector. Despite all this, Nigerians attach high value to education. The education system is such that a person spends six years in primary education, three junior and three senior years in secondary, and four years in university. Presently, there are over 18 million students enrolled at different levels of education. Snapshot of the American University of Nigeria The main goal of AUN is to equip learners with expertise on how to fight social and economic issues, negatively affecting Nigeria. In order to achieve this goal, the university largely depends on a highly qualified faculty to transform the university into a developmental institution. With students who are willing to learn and change the community, enough funding, and state-of-the-art technology, the university hopes to achieve its developmental goal. Six years since inauguration, the university has roughly 1400 students. The 85 members of staff have seen to the graduation of two classes of scholars. The AUN is reputed as an institution that offers education based on the American system. Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President founded the American University of Nigeria to offer the American type of education to the natives of Nigeria (Development at AUN, 2012). Atiku himself underwent the system of education of the Americans, which modeled him into the man he is today. This education system emphasizes on the need for small classes, decisive judgment, and student involvement in learning. This ensures that students are adequately prepared to combat social problems and are ready for the job market. University Projects The university, in its quest to become a leading developmental university in Nigeria has taken various decisive actions. This university ensures that its students are offered holistic education, covering all disciplines. AUN believes that conventional teaching methods make students narrow- minded and hinder them from attaining their full potential. Accordingly, the university has close partnerships with local entrepreneurs, the latter who mentor students to solve financial, cultural, and political issues affecting their community. The Challenge In the process of interacting with local entrepreneurs, students will contribute to discussions on how to combat terror attacks. This is a brainstorm session in which the students come up with pressing social issues; spell out existing opportunities and solutions to these issues. Students are then expected to suggest ways in which the university can provide solutions, while keeping in mind the advantages and limitations of the suggested solutions. Social Issues Religious Intolerance Northern Nigeria is for the most part an Islamic area. For many years, Muslims had been regarded as a soft people who did not speak out their problems. Nonetheless, in 1999, the Boko Haram, a fundamentalist Islam faction came to the ‘rescue’ of Muslims. The problem, however, is the manner in which this group is conducting itself. Numerous acts of terror by Boko Haram have been aimed at Christian faithful. Bombs, blasts and shootings are common in the northern states of Kano, Gombe, Kaduna and even Abuja. For instance, Otoforoni (2012) writes that on March 8th 2012, a bomb exploded leaving scores of people dead and many others critically injured. It is now apparent that the Boko Haram has its eyes set on dislodging the federal government and instituting in its place a theocratic government, governed by Sharia law. Horrifying, is the fact that it is the Nigerian youths who are being recruited into Boko Haram, since these youths have nothing else to do. Massive Unemployment The insurgence of the Boko Haram in the north has led to a rapid deterioration of the former economic giant in Nigeria. Many foreigners had invested a lot in the north, especially in the agricultural and industrial sectors. According to Usman (2012) the threat posed by the Boko Haram, has led to many of the said investors having to flee the region for their own security and that of their businesses. As a result, farmers have suffered the loss of storage facilities, incentives, and access to credit services to help them boost production. In areas such as Kano and Kaduna, hitherto factories lay in waste as there are no more people working there. Statistics show that about 70% of people in Adamawa state are unemployed. This wave of unemployment has been felt largely by the youth. School leavers come the rude awakening that there are no formal jobs to accommodate them. Such youths are forced to go into the informal sector or risk unemployment. This entire economic decline has rendered northern Nigeria helpless and placed it at the mercy of the federal government to provide them with grants from oil generation. High illiteracy levels Illiteracy in Nigeria is very high, as most of its children and youth do not have access to formal, quality education. Approximately 62% of children living in Adamawa attend primary education and 47% attend secondary education. In 2006, statistics from the national bureau showed that of people aged above 15 years, 33% of them could not read in any language, neither could they write. Statistics from CIA – The World Fact book, (2012) reveal that very few people get access to post-secondary education, especially in the northern parts of Nigeria. There are very few vocational training centers and institutions of higher learning. This means that secondary school leavers cannot get access to formal employment, as the standards of their education do not permit them. AUN is among the few institutions of higher learning in northern Nigeria. Opportunities Educational Prioritization Among the issues affecting the north, ignorance is a major factor. Ignorant and uneducated youths are easy prey for masterminds of criminal groups, such as the Boko Haram. Due to ignorance, these youths do not differentiate right from wrong. For example, these youths are told by their spiritual leaders to kill Christians in a holy war. A learned person would know that killing for whatever reason is wrong. The school curriculum right from primary to tertiary education should include peace education. Other learning institutions should emulate AUN in offering classes that challenge students to come up with ways of ensuring peaceful co-existence in the community. With this current trend, AUN is going to produce the next generation of leaders in Africa. It is essential that poor, but bright students be offered scholarships. Employment Opportunities It is evident that majority of the youths in northern Nigeria engage in criminal activities due to widespread poverty. Failure to access formal employment, despite being educated makes such youth desperate. In the informal sector, the wages are too low to support these youths and their families. This is especially true in the north where foreign investment has come to a halt and with it, rampant unemployment. The government should be responsible enough to ensure that its people are able to fend for themselves. Accordingly, the Nigerian government should revive the economic prowess of the north in terms of industry and agriculture. Private corporations also have a role to play in curbing unemployment, especially among the youth. Corporate social responsibility should entail supporting the youth by providing them with grants to set up businesses and take up entrepreneurial and leadership courses. Spiritual Acceptance The roles of religious leaders should be clearly spelt out for them. Clerics should be banned from imposing religion on another person. Incitement charges should also be filed against a cleric found arousing religious tension among people of diverse religions. Any cleric found preaching hatred and organizing against another religion should be prosecuted. Even the human rights declaration gives a person the right to the religion of their choice. The law should, therefore, deal with Muslims turning against Christians, accordingly. Benefits of the opportunities The above mentioned opportunities could have numerous benefits for the people of Nigeria, especially the war-torn northern states. If the government could revive the agricultural and industrial activities in the north, then the locals would once again find employment and would forget poverty. The cooperation between government agencies and the private sector will see the youth benefit from social responsibility programs, grants, scholarships, and leadership courses. Leadership training programs for youths will ensure that northern Nigeria does not have a leadership deficit. If education is treated with the importance it deserves, then levels of illiteracy, particularly among the youth will decline. The youth will no longer be misled by greedy clerics and politicians into performing acts of terror on fellow Nigerians. The educated youth will teach the community on the importance of peace and show them how to attain long-lasting peace. Religion-based terror groups such as the Boko Haram will no longer have youthful followers. Consequently, such a group will weaken and disintegrate and peace will be restored in Nigeria. The AUN is a role model on how education can be used to foster peace. AUN also has scholarship programs to ensure that as many youths as possible benefit from the education provided at the university. Limitations of the Opportunities The opportunities mentioned above could be very beneficial to the community, if only the people charged with implementing them were truly committed to this worthy course. The government of Nigeria, however, is reluctant. Instead of revitalizing the agricultural potential in the north, the government has focused its efforts on giving grants from oil revenue to the region. The local leadership has failed its citizens in this area. For example, an aspiring politician who was once a governor of the Central Bank was quoted as saying that northern Nigeria cannot do without the grants from the sale of oil. It is a pity that the same leaders we rely on are the same ones focusing on our weaknesses rather than our strengths. On the issue of provision of scholarships and training programs, it is quite tricky to determine who is more entitled than the other. The selection criteria on who to award scholarships and who should attend leadership training classes is a big challenge, since there are many deserving people. Another challenge would be the funds required to implement such programs. It is quite apparent that the government either does not have the funds, or is unwilling to fund the project. This leaves private business owners as the other alternative to facilitating such programs, through social responsibility initiatives. The problem with this, could be convincing all stakeholders on the relevance of such a program, and justifying its cost and all the resources that will be used. A final drawback to the war against terror is the reluctance of the government to deal with criminal gangs. Previously, Boko Haram was just an Islamic fundamentalist group seeking to represent the Muslims in Nigeria. In time, however, the group started causing mayhem in Christian-dominated states. The government did not take action against this group, not until it became a rebel group threatening the very stability of the federal government under Musa Yar’Adua presidency. When it became apparent that the group was gaining popularity and increasing its attacks, its founder was killed by government forces. The question, therefore, remains; why did the government opt to execute Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of Boko Haram, rather that have him stand trial? Is there something that the government feared the Boko Haram leader would disclose? The answers to these questions may never be known; Yusuf probably went with them to the grave. Conclusion The problems facing Nigeria and especially the northern part are numerous. Much needs to be done to ensure that northern Nigeria recovers from this downward trend that is threatening its very existence. What Nigeria needs is strong and fresh leadership to salvage the country from destruction. It is with this in mind, that AUN has come up to spearhead development in Nigeria by producing level-headed students, capable of transforming the country positively. With courses such as entrepreneurship, information technology and leadership, AUN aims to change the current situation in Nigeria for the better. All that is needed is government support and increase in the profile of the university to attain international recognition. When this happens, Nigeria will celebrate peace and development and the spill effect will be felt around the continent. References CIA – The World Fact book, (2012). Nigeria. Retrieved from http://www.google.com. Development at AUN, (2012).American University of Nigeria. Retrieved from http://www.americanuniversitynigeria.org. Otoforoni, F. (2012). Price of insecurity: bombing northern Nigeria back into Stone Age and licking the wounds. Retrieved from www. Herald Express. Org. Usman, Z (2012).Northern Nigeria: A People in Terminal Decline. Retrieved from http://zainabusman.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/a-people-in-terminal-decline. Read More