It is the 14th day of April again, a day that will live in infamy as the day regular girls attending a public school in a peaceful rural community in Nigeria were violently abducted by insurgents on a mission to deny them of education. Their tale will forever captivate people’s imagination; but thanks to the intervention of AUN, this tragic story is getting a happy ending.
On 3 February, 2015, after a visit to the American University of Nigeria campus in Yola, Monica Mark wrote in The Guardian of London: “The mass abduction (of girls from a school in Chibok) propelled the sect (Boko Haram) into global infamy, as the missing students became an international symbol of Boko Haram’s escalating war against lay education.” If the abduction of the Chibok girls became Boko Haram’s loud statement of intent, braving the odds to provide the girls with quality education are the opening shots in the ideological defeat of the insurgents. On the tenth anniversary of the infamous kidnap, we at the American University of Nigeria reflect on our institution’s role in the degrading of the sect’s threat, our contribution to the counterinsurgency efforts of the Nigerian government and the security forces.
American Astronaut Neil Armstrong once left an iconic quote when he landed on the moon on 20 July, 1969: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Educating the Chibok girls at AUN is one small step in humanity’s inevitable victory against an extremist ideology. As a Development University with a mission to find solutions to community problems and educate a new generation of critical thinkers and problem solvers, the American University of Nigeria is ideally suited to lead the battle to free Nigerian girls from fear and offer them hope. A world-class university with state-of-the-art learning facilities and a technological endowment unparalleled in sub-Saharan Africa, AUN also had the belief, faith, and courage to take on this historic battle against formidable forces determined to enslave young girls and deny them of education.
AUN brought in the first batch of twenty-five girls from Chibok in August 2014. This comprised those who escaped from the kidnappers at significant personal risk, a few of who were injured in their fight for freedom. After carefully studying their state of academic standing, the University introduced the New Foundation School (NFS) programme, a rigorous preparatory course plan featuring academic and personal development components. The first batch of Chibok girls was enrolled in this special programme. They were on the University’s scholarship, with a significant portion of the funds coming from our founder, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar (GCON) and, later, US financial mogul, Mr Robert Smith.
After two years of intensive studies following their arrival, four of the Chibok girls were enrolled in undergraduate programmes at AUN. They studied Natural and Environmental Sciences, with concentrations on Biomedical Science and public health; and Accounting. As then President Margee Ensign, an American, told them during their matriculation: “You have come to the American University of Nigeria where you will be trained as knowledgeable solution providers. All universities identify new problems and come up with fresh ideas to solve them. You are role models and change leaders. We will not only provide you with a different sort of education, but we will also arm you with confidence and the intellectual tools to change the narrative of Africa, beginning from Chibok.”
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The academic and self-development breakthrough achieved by the Chibok girls is a major turning point in deconstructing the kidnapping saga’s ideological posturing. These girls are brave and very resilient. They appear fragile physically but you get to quickly realise they are tough-minded and determined to overcome the challenges which life has thrown at them. Their education is rigorous, as you would expect from the American University of Nigeria, but in a short time they became conscious of their place in history as pioneers and role models. They begin to see themselves as role models in their hometown of Chibok. Young women look up to them for inspiration. Their presence on campus and the impressive progress they are making prompted the start of new intervention programmes to assist vulnerable boys and girls from the North-East. In 2015, AUN initiated the Feed and Read Programme, which provides preparatory education and a daily meal to hundreds of vulnerable out-of-school boys and girls in the Yola-Jimeta communities. Currently, the AUN Feed and Read programme is supported in part by UNICEF. The USAID-funded Technology Enhanced Learning for All (TELA), a programme that deployed radio and tablets to teach Maths, English, and local languages to over 22,000 neighbourhood children, and the follow-up Strengthening Education in the Northeast Schools (SENSE), became some of the most successful interventions in a post-conflict community. TELA, developed and guided by the erudite global scholar of strategic communication, Professor Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob, offered a very transformative learning experience, which Nigeria, and other countries with a sizeable out-of-school population, should be replicating. Most of the funding for educational interventions has come from the AUN Founder, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, who spares no effort, material or otherwise, to support any initiative that positively impacts Adamawa State and the North-East region.
An expert has confirmed that the level of cognitive behavioural therapy we provide for the Chibok girls is at par with what is obtainable in the best American universities around the world. Our Psychology Unit, staffed by excellent professionals, works with them consistently as they strive to overcome challenges such as PTSD, anxiety and other related mental health challenges.
In later years, more of the pioneer Chibok girls were enrolled to study Law, Communication, and Multimedia Design, with concentrations in Journalism, Public Relations, and Advertising, at the undergraduate level. Most have since graduated from the University with honours degrees and rejoined the society in various capacities.
In September 2018, AUN received another batch of 106 girls from the Federal Government of Nigeria. This batch was from among the kidnapped girls and they joined their sisters in our NFS program to begin their rehabilitation and educational advancement. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Abuja, is their custodian. This nation owes gratitude to the late former Federal Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan; former Vice President Yemi Osibanjo and his wife; as well as incumbent First Lady Senator Remi Tinubu – great patriots who rose above partisan politics to ensure that the Nigerian government provides the Chibok girls with the best education any at-risk persons can receive in the country. The incumbent President of AUN, Dr DeWayne Preston Frazier, also an American, is investing as much passion and determination in providing the Chibok girls studying at AUN with the best education, care, and social skills they can get anywhere, with dignity. He is committed to their well-being and progress and has invested personal funds in their welfare. Dr DeWayne draws a huge applause anytime he tells the campus and greater community that one of the reasons he chose to come to AUN was because of the university’s impact on the Chibok girls, a story that deeply affected him while working in America, where notable personalities, including former First Lady Michele Obama took a highly-publicised stand supporting the #BringBackOurGirls movement.
On campus, we try as much as possible to shield the Chibok girls from unnecessary media exposure to encourage them to concentrate more on achieving their enrolment goals. AUN is a campus where rules apply and are strictly enforced, which initially created anxiety for the girls when they were admitted. But they have settled in fine and are being assisted on a mission of personal healing, educational development, and gradual community reintegration. We are careful to ensure that their public engagements, interactions, or relationships are guided only by the need to advance their rehabilitation and advancement in a safe and secure environment that will not, in any way, endanger their academic progress.
The New Foundation School of the American University of Nigeria has the prerequisite academic facilities and resources to meet the unique needs of these determined and unbreakable girls. First-rate facilities and personnel are devoted to their care, including seasoned psychologists and therapists. An expert has confirmed that the level of cognitive behavioural therapy we provide for the Chibok girls is at par with what is obtainable in the best American universities around the world. Our Psychology Unit, staffed by excellent professionals, works with them consistently as they strive to overcome challenges such as PTSD, anxiety and other related mental health challenges.
The learning community is welcoming too, and that has been helpful. AUN has in place unique academic support programmes to help the Chibok girls struggling academically, facilities you will not find in your regular Nigerian universities. They include the Writing Center, the Math Resource Center, the Academic Advising and Retention Office, the Career Services Center, and the Honor Society’s Peer-to-Peer Tutoring platform. There is a vocational skills acquisition centre and numerous co-curriculum activities provided to develop their cognitive and social skills. We are incredibly pleased with their progress since they joined us. Adjusting to campus life was tough for many and while some have struggled to keep up with high academic standards, many are progressing satisfactorily.
It is a sad commentary that ten years after the Chibok saga, more students are still being kidnapped from schools in the country but the insurgents will not have the last word. Under the mentorship provided by the American University of Nigeria’s model, the government of Nigeria is determined to close the 14 April kidnap chapter on a favourable note: no force can deny girls in Nigeria the right to an education.
We routinely implore our good friends in the media, as well as the general public, to rein in their impulse to treat the Chibok girls studying at AUN like media trophies; we prefer that the girls lose their celebrity status and become regular students like everyone else.
It is the 14th day of April again, a day that will live in infamy as the day regular girls attending a public school in a peaceful rural community in Nigeria were violently abducted by insurgents on a mission to deny them of education. Their tale will forever captivate people’s imagination; but thanks to the intervention of AUN, this tragic story is getting a happy ending. It illustrates the triumph of willpower over adversity, the enduring power of the human spirit, when you watch these Chibok girls on campus praying for others, singing, dancing, performing community service, contributing funds, and donating to less privileged groups.
In its literal and symbolic sense, this is also the victory of the national will over violent extremism. The vision of the AUN management in bringing in the first batch of Chibok girls ten years ago at obvious risks, cements the university’s legacy – a Development University with the courage of conviction to match its philosophy with action, a courageous and active agent of social change in the local community, and a beacon of hope for a better Nigeria, and Africa.
From this experience, the Nigerian government and indeed the international community, can always count on AUN as a partner in research and development. After the embarrassing intelligence failure that led to the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, the Nigerian state can claim to have discharged its moral obligation to the abducted girls and their families. They were kidnapped to prevent them from receiving an education, but they ended up attending the country’s most prestigious private university, AUN. Their rehabilitation is still work in progress but it is destined to end in praise. It is also a victory for President Muhammad Buhari’s administration for insisting that the released Chibok girls join their counterparts at the American University of Nigeria to continue their education and healing process. It is a sad commentary that ten years after the Chibok saga, more students are still being kidnapped from schools in the country but the insurgents will not have the last word. Under the mentorship provided by the American University of Nigeria’s model, the government of Nigeria is determined to close the 14 April kidnap chapter on a favourable note: no force can deny girls in Nigeria the right to an education.
Daniel Okereke is the interim Registrar/Vice President for Administration at the American University of Nigeria, Yola. He can be reached at danokereke@gmail.com.
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