Title
AUN as a Development University -- Preparing Nigerian Students for the Challenges of the Country
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2017
Department
President's Office
Language
English
Publication Title
American Universities Abroad: The Leadership of Independent Transnational Higher Education Institutions
Abstract
From its inception in 2003, the American University of Nigeria (AUN) was to be a different sort of university in sub-Saharan Africa.
Its founder and chief benefactor, the former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, had grown up in the rural northeast of the country, south of the advancing Sahara desert and one of the poorest places on earth. Having been taught by Peace Corps volunteers, he sought to create a university here on the American model, focused on problem solving and, most importantly, on playing a leading role in the development of Nigeria. It was to be a 'development university' and it was to be American in philosophy and pedagogy. This was quite different from the large public universities of Nigeria which were established on the British model, and which had become underfunded, overpopulated, and strike-ridden.
Recommended Citation
Ensign, Margee. "AUN as a Development University -- Preparing Nigerian Students for the Challenges of the Country." In American Universities Abroad: The Leadership of Independent Transnational Higher Education Institutions, edited by Ted Purinton and Jennifer Skaggs, 41-54.
Comments
For more information on the published version, visit The American University in Cairo Press's Website.