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Tag: AUN

  • AUN hails Chibok girls’ release

    AUN hails Chibok girls’ release

    The American University of Nigeria (AUN) has praised the Federal Government for the release of 21 Chibok girls.

    AUN President Margee Ensign, in a statement by the Executive Director, Communications and Public Relations, Daniel Okereke, praised the government for its efforts to seek release of the remaining girls.

    “The AUN hailed the news that 21 young women kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists were released 913 days after their abduction from the village of Chibok.

    ”I am thrilled that the young women have been released and hope that after they recover they are able to continue their lives and education in peace.

    “AUN has a special bond with the victims and their families. Of the 58 young women, who escaped that night in April 2014, 24 are studying at AUN on full scholarships provided by an American donor.

    One of the escaped girls, who is studying medicine at the university, said: “We are happy beyond words that some of our sisters and friends are now free. We hope and pray that those still held will be given their freedom soon, and that some will join us here so that we can all work to rebuild our home,” she said in the statement.

    “AUN did not release identities of the students for security reasons,” the statement added.

     

  • AUN president charges students on service delivery

    President, American University of Nigeria, Prof. Margee Ensign, has urged students of the institution to focus on service delivery in other to bring development to their communities. She also urged the students not to forget where they are coming from. According to her, your lives and those who are fortunate will be enriched by ensuring that those without the privileges you enjoy also have the opportunity for a better life. “Do Not Forget Your Roots,’ she told the graduating Class of 2016 of the AUN Academy, Yola, Adamawa state.

    According to a statement issued by the university’s communication office, the school graduated 33 academy students. “You are now among the privileged few who have a truly excellent secondary school education in Nigeria,” she said, in a speech published in the school’s graduation brochure. “As you go on from here to higher education, please do not forget our focus on service and development. Your lives and those who are fortunate will be enriched by ensuring that those without the privileges you enjoy also have the opportunity for a better life.

    “One of our great statesmen from America, President John F. Kennedy, said at his inauguration, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.’ On this very special day, this is what we ask you to consider.”

    The President also advised the graduates to take a moment and thank their parents and families who have provided them with support and care throughout their academic years. “They are the ones who made this opportunity for you possible,” she said. The statement said 17 year old Ashraf  Salihu Bakari, emerged best graduating student, beating other students in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. “My Dad told me that the key to every success, no matter how big it is, is always hard work, perseverance, and patience.

    “I feel both excited and sad.  I feel excited because after six years, which is of course a very long journey, today I am graduating and I have made my parents very proud of me. And I will keep on making them proud. “But I am very sad because I am leaving my classmates and my juniors with whom I have shared a lot of experiences,” Bakari, said. His mother, Asma’u Salihu Bakari, also overwhelmed with joy, said: “I feel honoured, I feel great. And I really thank God for making him the best here in AUN Academy. He has always been a serious student. He loves learning. But AUN has made him great.”

    Executive Director, AUN Schools, Mrs. Nkem Uzowulu, urged the students to be of good conduct always. She said: “The joy in my heart cannot be quantified. These students have spent six years in AUN Academy and we are celebrating them into another phase of their lives. I will miss seeing their faces. I love these children. They are wonderful.”

    “When you are dealing with children, you must live an exemplary life. They learn more from seeing what you do than what you are saying. When you say don’t do this and they do not see you living out that, you are wasting your time. So that is number one. “When you are raising children, you want them to be disciplined, but you also have to show love. When I punish my children, they understand that I do so out of love. I am not punishing them to destroy them. It’s a corrective measure, and they understand.

    “Always remain focused, confident and proud of your Alma-mater. Avoid distractions and take one quality step at a time, using challenges as opportunities to press on and not quit pursuing your set goals. “Adopt and utilize all the positive influences and attributes that you have acquired while in transition in this Great Citadel of learning as they will enable you to succeed in life and contribute positively towards National and international development.

    “To actualize this you have to be careful about the choices you make, the friends you keep, the books you read, the websites you visit and everything you indulge in – shun all forms of social vices they as they will lead to destructive life styles. Instead, embrace decent habits and almighty God will honour the labour of your parents over your lives. “My wonderful Kings and Queens, it is hard for me to say good bye but I send you forth to be positive examples for others to follow. I commit you into the hands of the Almighty God, to guide and keep you safe from all evils and give you peace all round.

    “Finally, my wonderful children, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely and whatsoever thing are of good report, if there be any virtue, please think on them.

    Those things you have learned, heard and seen in me, please do; and the God of peace who rewards excellence will be with you always. “Who you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God and Humanity” “Learn to plan, for planning is taking time to know what to do with the vision in your heart. It is a major investment of time in the process of thinking. Vision translates into ideas and planning into steps and action points. Always remember that “people do not plan to fail but fail to plan,”

  • AUN offers scholarship award to 67 students

    The American University of Nigeria (AUN) at the weekend said it has increased its scholarship award for new students to 67.

    The institution, in a statement issued by its Executive Director, Communications and Public Relations, Daniel Okereke, said that examination for the scholarship awards would hold on July 30th, this year.

    The examination centres, according to the statement include: Intels Integrated Logistics Services, Port Harcourt, Federal Government College, Enugu, Mauve 21 Event Centre, Ibadan, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, Arewa House, Kaduna, and Robert Pastor E-Library, AUN, Yola, Adamawa state.

    “The American University of Nigeria will hold scholarship examinations for newly accepted students joining the university for the 2016/2017 academic session on Saturday, July 30, 2016,” the statement said.The institution stated that 36 scholarships would be awarded to 36 students with the highest scores in the 2015 Joint Admissions and Matriculation (JAMB) examination nationwide.

    Another 30 scholarships, the statement said, would be awarded to five candidates from each of the six geo-political zones under the university’s regional scholarships program. The statement reads: “36 Scholarships will be awarded to candidates with the highest scores on the 2015 Joint Admissions and Matriculation (JAMB) examination from all the 36 states, and one scholarship will be awarded to the candidate with the highest scores on JAMB UTME nationally.

    “Another 30 scholarships will be awarded to 5 candidates from each of the 6 geo-political regions of the country under the university’s regional scholarships program. Winners of the JAMB based scholarships will be selected based on results of the 2015 UME, while the regional scholarships winners will be selected primarily based on their performance on the 2015 national scholarship examinations.

    “All 2015 UME candidates newly accepted into the university for the Fall 2016 Semester are eligible and invited to sit for the regional scholarships examinations. Candidates transferring from local and foreign universities as well as Direct Entry candidates are ineligible to write the scholarship examinations. “All eligible candidates must bring with them their acceptance letter into AUN and either an international passport, national identity card (ID Card), or Voters Registration Card containing their photograph.

    “Candidates freshly seeking admission and those who have applied, but are yet to be notified of their admission into AUN, and their guardians can phone the test centers to receive permission to take the special scholarship examinations.  Those freshly seeking admission into AUN will need to complete an AUN admission application form at the venue of the examination before being allowed into the testing hall.

    There is no fee attached to this scholarship examination.”

  • Forex Crisis: AUN confirms transfer of foreign students

    Forex Crisis: AUN confirms transfer of foreign students

    The American University of Nigeria (AUN) at the weekend confirmed that it had received transfer request from some Nigerian students studying abroad who want to return home to finish their studies because of the scarcity of foreign exchange.

    The AUN stated that due to difficulty in sourcing for forex, some Nigerians in the Diaspora had decided to send their children to the school to finish their education at home.

    A large number of Nigerian students are studying abroad, mainly in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and others.

    The Assistant Vice President, Digital Services and Chief Information Officer, (AUN), Mr. Julius Ayutabe, confirmed this to journalists in Abuja at the 16th graduation ceremony of Global International College.

    Ayutabe, who did not give the figures of foreign Nigerian students who had applied to finish their studies in the university, stated that the school had received students from the US and UK.

    Ayutabe, stated that Nigerian universities had bridged the gap between those abroad, adding that parents now feel comfortable to send their children to study in private universities at home.

    He said: “The Nigerians in the Diaspora are sending their children back home because even they now, are realizing the potential back home to train their children at par with those abroad. Especially with the value of the naira today, parents don’t have the option than to bring their children back home.

  • AUN hosts career fair for students

    No fewer than 28 blue chip firms attended the career fair organised by the American University of Nigeria (AUN) at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

    For two days, students and alumni of the institution were trained on how to be employers. Many companies were also on ground to hire graduates from the institution.

    The fair, ninth by the university, was aimed at familiarising its graduates with various firms. It featured multinational companies cutting across telecoms, oil and gas, power, transport, health, and other sectors.

    Some firms also administered aptitude and problem-solving tests to the students, alumni, and other prospects. The representative of the companies also guided participants about their career and requirements in the labour market during the fair.

    “At AUN, we give them education that gives them knowledge, skills and even the attitude that they need to find jobs or create employment,” the President of the institution, Dr. Margee Ensign said.

    She added that the fair was organised to provide students and alumni exposure to career and internship opportunities.

    Ensign also said the fair was organised to prepare students of the university for interviews, how to write CVs, and prepare them for the world of work. She advised universities to go beyond issuing degree certificates to helping them chart career paths, make choices, and prepare them for the task ahead.

    She added: “I have had some great discussions with people out here and I asked them: ‘What do you think of our students?’ One employer said: ‘’I did not think a 21-year-old could be so smart.’’

    But what was more important was a software engineering student been interviewed and the bank said: ‘your education is so well rounded, you can write, you can speak. He said I can hire you for marketing, I can hire you in our computer department.’ I think that defines AUN education, It is not narrow.

    The association’s Dean of School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Ferdinand Che, said the fair offers employers the opportunity to engage the students early.

    Said Che: “This is unique to AUN experience. It is a fundamental right because we are talking about preparing people for the work place and we are very serious about this. What is beginning to happen, it seems to me, that employers recognise this from what we are hear them say.”

     

     

  •  When AUN hosted career fair for students

     When AUN hosted career fair for students

    The American University of Nigeria (AUN) last month organized the 9th career fair for students of the institution. The fair, which held at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, had 28 companies from different sectors in attendance. Frank Ikpefan who covered the event writes on the benefits of the fair to students of the university.

     

    No fewer than 28 blue chip companies were in attendance at the career fair organized by the American university of Nigeria. The fair took place at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    For two days, students and alumni of the institution were exposed to the knitty – gritty of turning from job hunters to employers of labour. Many companies were also on ground to hire graduates from the institution.

    The fair, 9th in a series by the university was aimed at familiarizing its graduates with various companies, across the country. It featured multinational companies cutting across telecoms, oil & gas, power, transport, health, and other sectors.

    Some of the popular companies present included: Dangote Group of Companies, GTB, Transcorp Hilton, Philips Consulting, Arbico, KPMG, GLO, NBC, Deloitte, Intel Services, APTECH, NADABO Energy, SIGMA Pensions LTD, VON, Diamond Bank, Bain & Company, CPCS, and MCEE Business Solutions.

    Others are: NUC, FCTA, NIPCO, PWC, AUN Human Resources, BULWARK Investment & Trust LTD, and Audit Dept. impressed by the prospects on display at the fair, some of the companies returned the following day to offer interviews.

    Some companies also administered aptitude and problem-solving tests to AUN students, alumni, and other prospects. The representative of the companies also guided the participants about their career and requirements in the labour market during the fair.

    “It is really important at AUN we give them the education that gives them the knowledge, skills and even the attitude that they need find jobs and then create employment,” the President of the institution, Dr. Margee Ensign, said during the fair.

    She said that the fair was organized to provide students and alumni exposure to career and internship opportunities.

    She also said that it was organized to prepare students of the University for Interviews, for writings CVs, and to prepare them for work. She advised universities to go beyond granting graduates degrees to also helping them to chart career paths, make choices, and prepare them for the task ahead.

    Dr. Ensign said: “It is really important at AUN we give our students the education that gives them the knowledge, the skills and even the attitude to go find jobs and then to create employment. I have had some great discussions with people out here and I asked them: what do you think of our students? One employer said: ‘I did not think a 21 year old could be so smart.’ That was lovely. But what was more important was a software engineering student been interviewed and the bank said: ‘your education is so well rounded, you can write, you can speak. He said I can hire you for marketing, I can hire you in our computer department.’ I think that defines AUN education, It is not narrow.

    “We have a career office that works all year round. This is their job: to prepare students for interviews, for writing CVs, for getting ready for work and they spend a whole year talking to companies about what we are doing today. So it is not just something that happens two weeks ago. Now the companies are coming to Yola to see what we are doing. It has taken a number of years to get to this point. One employer said to me today; ‘I will only hire AUN graduates’ and it took a long time to get to that point for them to understand what kind of education that we are doing in Yola because it is different from what is happening in other universities.

    “We teach students to write well, to think clearly and to solve problems. You have seen in action our students being interviewed, being hired and our former students being alumni are hiring AUN students. Our students live in a different world than we live in, many of the jobs that they are going to have we don’t even know the name yet. To me it is not just important to look for employment; it is starting your own.

    Ensign said that as a development university, the focus of AUN is to give students education that enables them to find and create jobs.

    “AUN is a development university and it is probably pretty abstract to you guys. Every students at AUN is in a class that exposes them to the hardest problem your country is facing, whether it is poor health, illiteracy, they have to go out to the community,” she added

    Also speaking, the Association Dean of School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Ferdinand Che, said the fair offers employers the opportunity to engage the students early.

    He called for the inclusion of junior students of the institution in the annual career program.

    Dr. Che said: “This does not happen anywhere else. This is unique to AUN experience. It is a fundamental right because we are talking about preparing people for the work place and we are very serious about this. What is beginning to happen, it seems to me, that employers recognize this from what we are hearing them saying.

    “What I see is an opportunity to even engage earlier. For example, not only should our senior (students) be attending this event but our juniors should be attending this event as well because the conversation is starting earlier is an incentive for proper conclusion to that. I think it is an opportunity and I don’t think those employers are disappointed.”

     

     

  • Unemployment is Nigeria’s biggest challenge – AUN President

    Unemployment is Nigeria’s biggest challenge – AUN President

    High rate of unemployment among the youth is Nigeria’s biggest challenge, the President, American University of Nigeria (AUN), Dr. Margee Ensign, said at the weekend.

    She noted that with the increase in the size of the country’s population, Nigeria would find it difficult to provide jobs for over 200 million young people who will live in it by 2045.

    Dr. Ensign, who said this in Abuja at the ninth Annual Alumni Career Fair for students of the institution, advised the Federal Government to train its citizens on how to create jobs in order to overcome unemployment challenges.

    She said: “You are growing so rapidly. You are doubling every 26 years. Your biggest challenge in Nigeria is to create employment for the 200 million young people who will live in your country by 2045.

    “You have 100 million right now. How many are out of work? Our job is not only to train them to find jobs but to create companies that are creating employment. That is what they do in the school of business and entrepreneurship.

    “We have got a bunch of kids who are only a year ago out of school are here hiring our students. That is what has to happen in Nigeria. It is a big national challenge to have over 70 million out of jobs in Nigeria.”

    Ensign said that the focus of AUN is to give students education that enables them to find and create jobs.

    “It is really important at AUN we give them the education that gives them the knowledge, skills and even the attitude that they need find jobs and then create employment.

    “AUN is a development university and it is probably pretty abstract to you guys. Every students at AUN is in a class that exposes them to the hardest problem your country is facing, whether it is poor health, illiteracy, they have to go out to the community.

    “Our students live in a different world than we live in, many of the jobs that they are going to have we don’t even know the name yet. To me it is not just important to look for employment; it is starting your own,” Dr. Ensign said.

    Earlier, the Dean, School of Law of the university, Professor Oladejo Olowu, told journalists that the institution had concluded plans to establish a gender law programme that would educate students as well as Nigerians on gender-based legal issues.

    The University, which is the first to introduce the course, plans to produce lawyers that study gender law.

    Olowu said that the new course would help to educate Nigerians on the need to confront the orthodoxies and conservative ideas that had held the society for long.

    “The Programme is coming as a means of correcting the abnormalities of the past in the gender differences and the scandal towards the gender bill by Nigerian lawmakers,” he said.

    “In this country, you only hear lawyers speaking about gender equality, but no lawyer in Nigeria went through a law programme that has gender law as component. That is why we have to start the programme in August, with 100 students.

    “I want to say that there is something else we are doing that is extraordinary. You know that developments in this country are left for economists, development theorists and policy analysts.  It has never been a subject for law schools in Nigeria. For the first time in this country, a law programme is having law society and development as a module. That is something worthy of celebrating.

    “What we are doing at AUN, Yola is to correct the abnormalities of the past and fill the missing gap. The good thing about the leadership we have is that we were all taught and groomed in the Nigerian legal system. We went abroad and acquired comparative benefits in the study and applications of law, which is what we have brought together in a form of multicultural ideas.

    “And that is why we have been able to do things that have never been heard of in Nigeria. Even National Universities Commission agrees that we are doing something that is groundbreaking,” he added

     

  • AUN makes world record

    The American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, is now the official holder of the Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously. The GWR Records Management Team announced the feat in a message posted online.

    On August 24, 2015, a group of 485 people recorded 20 minutes of simultaneous crocheting, a bid to beat a New York City group of 426 who crocheted simultaneously for 15 minutes in 2010.

    The group needlework, an effort sponsored by AUN’s Student Government Association, was planned to coincide with Earth Day, to sensitize residents of Yola, the Adamawa State capital, about the hazards of non-biodegradable litter.

    The crocheters used plarn, a yarn developed from used shopping bags which is an environmental nuisance and is not bio-degradable.

    The reusable and renewable properties of the bags drew attention to how cleaning up the environment could be sustainable and profitable.

    Community women members of Yola EcoSentials, a group of social entrepreneurs promoted by AUN, walked the participants through the process before the kickoff of the simultaneous crocheting. The event served to publicize the University’s ‘waste to wealth’ initiative.

    University President, Margee Ensign, praised all the participants for the feat.

    “Congratulations to everyone involved in this splendid world record,” she said.

  • AUN gets pioneer dean of law

    AUN gets pioneer dean of law

    A South Africa-based Nigerian, Prof Oladejo Olowu, has resumed as the founding dean of law at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola.

    A statement from the university said it is part of preparations to apply for accreditation to run the Law programme.

    Olowu, who was active in the Nigerian law practice before becoming an academic, worked as Professor of Law and Director of Postgraduate Studies & Research at the North-West University, Mafikeng, South Africa, having joined the NWU in January 2010. He previously worked for Walter Sisulu University and University of Fort Hare, both in South Africa.

    “With his impressive background, credentials and experience, all of us at AUN are thrilled to welcome Dr. Olowu as our founding Dean,” said AUN’s President, Dr. Margee Ensign

    On his vision for the new job, Olowu said: “My focus is on how to jump-start our Faculty of Law on a glorious scale. That must be our commitment.”

    Olowu was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1992 after graduating from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 1991. He has two Masters of Law degrees from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and the University of Pretoria, Pretoria, in conjunction with University of the Western Cape, Cape Town. At Notre Dame (2002-2004), he earned the doctorate cum laude in Juridical Science, having previously been at Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland (2003) for the Advanced Diploma in International Human Rights Protection.

    The widely published professor began university teaching at OAU, then University of Ibadan, Ibadan (2000-2002), University of Notre Dame in the U.S.A., and the University of the South Pacific, Vanuatu.

    Olowu is a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar and holds several awards in recognition of his interdisciplinary work.

     

  • AUN President to Class of 2019: make excellence your watchword

    President of American University of Nigeria, Dr. Margee Ensign has charged the institution’s new intakes to rise above the inevitable hardships they must encounter and contribute to building a world-class university.

    Dr. Ensign was delivering her message to the Class of 2019 during the University’s Convocation (Matriculation) at the Main Campus.

    No fewer than 26 states in Nigeria are represented in the class, as well as students from the United States, the United Kingdom, Rwanda, and Cameroon.

    “There is no magic wand we can use to build a great university.   Having a wonderful digital e-library-probably the finest in Africa-won’t do it.   Having an astonishingly generous founder and benefactor won’t do it.  Being selective in our student admissions won’t do it.  Providing more scholarships won’t do it.  Faculty members doing even better research won’t do it.  Really, it all comes down to the faculty and to the students.   Only you can build a great university”, she told them.

    President Ensign’s speech harped on ‘excellence’ and ‘integrity’. She warned students against the cheap temptations of ‘short-cut’ to success.

    “‘Excellence’ and ‘integrity’ are not at all abstract.  They have everything to do with the future of this institution, with the value of your degree, with your future as graduates of this institution.

    “If AUN continues to be known throughout Nigeria as a place of high and uncompromising standards, of academic integrity and excellence, of genuine world-class education, then we have a great future,” she said.