A modern, wired university grows in Nigeria

Two students focus on their work in a laboratory on the campus of the American University of Nigeria.Courtesy of American University of Nigeria

BY JACK RODOLICO/LATITUDE NEWS/THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

It’s tough to get an Internet connection in northern Nigeria. That’s why Google was surprised to see – on their user map, where they track the locations of people Googling around the world – a big bright dot of activity in the Nigerian city of Yola, right on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.

Nigeria has 170 million people, the most populous country in Africa and 7th largest in the world. But Yola has fewer than 100,000 people, and is close to the home of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

So when Google sent a team out to Nigeria last fall to figure out who was doing all that Googling, the California-based company was surprised to find a scene right out of an American college campus. In fact, they sort of did stumble on an American university – the American University of Nigeria (AUN).

According to AUN’s president, American Margee Ensign, Google was pleasantly surprised to find the campus.

“Google told us we were 55 percent of their traffic in the whole country,” Ensign says.

Latitude News caught up with Ensign as she was traveling from California to Nigeria. During a brief layover in Belgium, Ensign talked about what it meant to be an “American-style” university in a country associated in many people’s minds with spammers and Boko Haram.

AUN is the youngest American-style university abroad. The American University of Beirut was founded when Andrew Johnson was president in 1866. The American University in Bulgaria was founded in 1991, shortly after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. These schools, along with their counterparts in Rome, Cairo and the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, offer a liberal arts education – easy to come by in the US, but not so in other parts of the world.

AUN does not have an explicit connection with these other universities, although it has received critical support from American University in Washington DC. The Nigerian school, which opened its doors to students in 2005, was the brainchild of Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, who credits the Peace Corps for inspiring him to found the school.

As a child, Abubakar was orphaned in a town near Yola, right around the time Nigeria gained independence from Britain.

“[Abubakar] had American Peace Corps teachers and British teachers,” Ensign says. “He has said to me and others the British teachers slapped his hands and said, ‘Repeat after me,’ and the Peace Corps teachers actually asked his opinion.”

Ensign says Abubakar’s fortune ”is coming to the university.”

By Nigerian standards, the university is a hub for technology and infrastructure. Ensign says the campus is home to the largest building in northern Nigeria, and is the country’s only university with electricity around the clock. Students get laptops and have wireless, another unusual feature at a Nigerian university.

“We’re an entirely eBook community, all on iPads,” Ensign says, “and we’re introducing that same technology to a very poor community.”

“I would like to show the world that this technology can be used anywhere and can really allow people to leapfrog the challenges of poverty and illiteracy,” she adds.

AUN’s infrastructure is utilized by young Nigerians (and, increasingly, Rwandans, Ugandans, and Cameroonians) who are eager to pursue a liberal arts education. Like most American universities, undergraduate students study a diverse range of courses for two years, then focus on one field for their remaining two years. The campus is also home to a graduate program and a K-12 school – and a small army.

“When I was recruited for this position, like many, I was quite skeptical and worried about coming to Nigeria,” says Ensign.

Even though she feels at home now, Ensign says she faces constant, atypical challenges. Last week, there was a boa constrictor on campus.

“We had to deal with the local snake charmer,” Ensign says. She adds that in northern Nigeria, a big snake is a small challenge compared with “a terrorist organization about 100 miles from the university.”

The charmer got rid of the snake. A 350-person security force is there for the rest.

The security force, one-third of whom are women, are there to protect the 1,400 students and 90 or so faculty from Boko Haram, an Islamist group labeled as a terrorist group by the US government.

Ensign wouldn’t speak to specific threats from Boko Haram, instead saying the security force is there as a precautionary measure. She says students do not live under the constant threat of violence.

Meet Ngeria's Budding Mark Zuckerberg

BY MFONOBONG NSEHE, FORBES

Gossy Ukanwoke, a 23-year old Nigerian Internet entrepreneur, has embarked on creating a different type of social network. His tech startup, Students Circle, fuses a social feature with a rich database of over 10,000 academic resources- notes, essays, past assignments and tutorials.

Students Circle is something like Facebook, but for scholars and more serious-minded folks. The site launched in December 2010 and so far it has 2,407 registered members and over 20,371 non registered members from over 120 countries. Not too shabby for a startup that’s yet to receive a dollar in venture funding.

According to its website, “Students Circle Network allows students to interact and communicate over educational resources, making education and e-learning social and human by giving resources, study groups, social connections, scholarships offers and university placements.”

I chatted with him briefly today. We talked about his company, his comparative advantage, and the future.

Why would someone want to join Students Circle?

Students Circle Network – the academic social network — is uniquely bringing together the worlds of social connection, media and education to a single platform thereby allowing students, teachers and institutions connect without bounds. We are currently making over 10,000 resources available for free. Our focus on Africa is high. We believe that with the right content and audience, we can transform education in Africa.

What’s your comparative advantage? What makes Students Circle any better than Edmodo or any other educational social network?

We are bringing the best of all worlds: Social + Education. On the social aspect, students/teachers get to learn from each other based on personal knowledge and research. On the educational aspect, teachers and students can connect and use high quality content from top 200 OCW member universities. Study groups are used to schedule learning sessions and interactive forums to drive learning. We are launching API’s that will allow the use of Students Circle in classrooms.

Student Circle’s interface is very similar to Facebook’s. Why? Aren’t you afraid of being tagged as yet another Facebook copycat?

Yes, we moved towards getting a bit of the structure of Facebook because most our users are already using Facebook and it’s only natural for them to look for things the way they do on Facebook. It’s best for user experience. However, I am not worried about being tagged another Facebook clone because we are highly different and our focus is defined to education.

You have a database of thousands of high school and college courses. Where do you source them from, and how can users be certain of the quality of the content they are deriving from your site?

Students Circle Network is a member of the OpenCourseware Consortium. OCW Consortium has member universities globally with the most contributing member being MIT; others include Open University, UK and University of California at Irvine. This is to name a few. The point is that our content is from these universities. These are some of the most reputable universities worldwide.

Give me an overview of your business model. What ideas do you have about monetizing your site?

Currently students is a freemium business. We provide high quality services and content for free. We are running ads on the network which are generating some revenue. We are also gaining commissions from service partners who provide services for our users. Our monetization strategy includes developing a package for specific services. This is currently in the works.

Have you shared your vision with any angel investors or venture capitalists? Do you even believe in those guys?

Yes I have shared these ideas with venture capitalists and angels when this was at its infant stage and at the point they felt it was early. The VCs were not focused on early stage startups at the time. Do I believe them? [laughs] I hope to, I really do. Africa needs more VCs and angels.

What’s your current staff strength?

We currently have 3 team members and a fourth consultant. Chika Uwazie is the VP in charge of Business and Connections. Amblessed Uche is the product development manager and user experience lead. I handle development, strategy, technology, business and everything else. Anibe Agamah of Encipher Group consults for us on development.

Give me a glimpse into the future. How do you see Students Circle evolving over the next five years?

Students Circle should start awarding certificates and subsequently after all processes are fulfilled – diplomas. We are looking at partnering with Girne American University [in Northern Cyprus] for this purpose. We are also looking at being the number one social network and educational resource in every classroom in Africa and across the globe. We are working heavily on mobile delivery and this will be the major front for Students Circle in times to come.

Nigeria: Can Law Makers Adjust To Pay Cut?

By Chibuzo Ukaibe, Leadership Nigeria


Running the bicameral legislature in Nigeria is very expensive. Since 1999, the running cost of the National Assembly and the states houses of assemblies have been rising to intolerable level with Nigerians crying blue murder. After succumbing to pressures by Nigerians to cut their jumbo package, Chibuzo Ukaibe, in this piece looks at whether lawmakers of the national assembly can adjust to the new development.

When the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi declared that legislators gulped a huge chunk of the national budget- an amazing 25 percent- it sparked off a tirade from virtually all sectors of the country.

From the academic community to the civil society, the legislators came under intense criticisms. The criticisms were anchored on the larger than life lifestyle they live which was a sharp contrast to the pervasive squalor of those they represent.

It was unhealthy for the country and its economy which is stifled under the weight of a crippled power sector, lethargic infrastructure and massive unemployment.

The outcry was further intensified by renowned scholar of Law, Professor Itse Sagay who said Nigerian federal legislators are the highest paid legislators in the globe, and that their salaries and allowances represent a cruel anomaly in the country’s democratic governance.

Putting it in perspective, he noted that the Nigerian Senate President earned N88.33 million per month while his deputy earned N50 million, comparing their pay with what US President Barrack Obama who “earns $400,000 per annum while British Prime Minister David Cameron goes home with 190,000 pounds.”

According to Sagay, the anomaly is a breach of public trust. “A senator earns N240 million ($1.7 million) in salaries and allowances while his House of Representatives counterpart earns about N204 million ($1.45 million) per annum,” Sagay said.
The erudite Professor said an American senator “earns $174, 000 while a UK parliamentarian earns about $64, 000 per annum, which is very low compared to that of Nigerian lawmakers when compared with what their colleagues earn in the United States and United Kingdom.”

“In spite of the dismal standard of living, poverty of the country and low income per capita of the country, Nigerian legislators in Abuja have awarded themselves the highest salaries and allowances in the world. In 2009, the federal legislators received a total of N102.8 billion comprising N11.8 billion as salaries and N90.96 billion as non taxable allowances,”

He described it as a tragic situation that is clearly unsustainable, saying the anomaly “is seriously endangering our democracy.”

It is alleged that these hardly include expenses incurred on duty tours and estacode, as well as the allocations that come from ‘oversight functions’ and ‘lobbying.

But the legislature has explained that there is actually a difference between what people describe as jumbo pay and the actual earnings of the members which are fixed by Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

According to the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, at a press conference in July: “My pay has not been cut. My salary has not been cut because salaries are fixed by Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

“What has been cut is our overheads, our running cost, what you people refer to as jumbo pay. I want to be categorical that the salaries of National Assembly members have not been cut. We earn about the same salaries as ministers and Supreme Court Judges and I am not aware that their salaries have been cut.
“So if we are earning jumbo pay then it means that ministers and Supreme Court Judges are also earning jumbo pay. What has been cut is the over head cost of the National Assembly. It was a decision of the National Assembly.

“We committed ourselves to reducing the cost of governance. If you recall when Mr President came to present the 2011 budget, the president of the Senate made a commitment that this National Assembly was going to do everything in its power to reduce the cost of governance.

“And that we are going to show the example, so we have taken the lead by reducing the cost of running the National Assembly and we are hoping that the other arms of government will follow.

“Our responsibility is to the Federal Government. But at every level of governance in this country, let me put it this way; that every level of government is implicated in the high cost of governance, from the council right up to the Federal Government. So we believe that the states also play a role in ensuring that the cost of governance comes down.”

Chairman of the House ad-hoc committee on media, Mr. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele corroborated Ndoma –Egba. Chairman of RMAFC, Engineer Elias Mbam said apart fom salaries his commission also stipulates how much is to be paid for estacodes and overnight allowances. He however warned that it is illegal for lawmakers or any government officials to earn estacodes or allowances outside what the commission has approved. RMAFC is constitutionally empowered to determine the remuneration of all public office holders, including the president and his vice, governors, ministers, commissioners, special advisers and legislators, amongst others as listed in Sections 84 and 124 of the 1999 constitution. “Any other salaries and allowances being enjoyed by any political office holder outside those provided by the law or determined by the commission from time to time, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution are not known to the commission. Mbam stressed.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the Senate president is to earn N2.4 million as annual basic salary and a total annual emolument of N8.6 million. The speaker of the House of Representatives is to earn N2.4 million, annual basic salary and a total emolument of N4.95 million which amounts to N0.4million monthly. A senator is supposed to earn N12. 76 million per annum and members of the House of Representatives are to earn N9.52 million per annum.
With the commencement of the 40 percent slash, LEADERSHIP learnt that while some of the senators still grapple with the cut in the running costs, others have taken it in stride, “reworked their budgets to reflect current realities”.

It was also learnt that many times when senators visit their constituencies they often spend hugely as they attend to personal needs of their constituents as their house/constituency offices are thronged by those they represent on the slightest whiff of their usually short visit. Their offices in Abuja are not spared as well.
Analysts opine that the posh cars and huge spending are not going to fizzle away soon even as demands on them from their constituencies can only increase (which is usually driven by the members need to ensure their political survival).

Also it was gathered that majority of legislators have their children and wards in expensive schools, locally and internationally.

LEADERSHIP can reveal that the members are not taking the cuts easy as they had to adopt other means of making ends meet.

To make up for the cut in their running cost and meet the demands (before the slash), the ministries and Departments and Agencies have started receiving sterner attention by the legislators to ostensibly make up for what they have lost through the pay cut, a source in the National Assembly said.

The National Assembly has the constitutional right, while performing its oversight function, to summon any ministry, department or agency to provide update on their activities.

But a source in the second estate of the realm believes there has never been any attempt to drain the executive arm of government. ‘‘Most lawmakers are accomplished businessmen, captains of industries and professionals from all works of life. So most of them are quite wealthy before they came to the legislature,’’ the source assured.

A lawmaker who craved for anonymity believes it is not right to generalize that everybody there is out to squander money or be bandied as trying to make money from arm twisting the MDAs while engaging in their oversight functions. Such a perception he said would not be in the overall interest of the country.

Q & A Interview With Professor Alvin Lim

I bumped into Professor Alvin Lim at West African Documentary (WAD) that I begun at Facebook, trying to explore the concepts of the region, and at the same time putting research into perspective on the vagaries and uncertainties of an entire continent that has so much to offer in terms of human capital and natural resources. Alvin and I argued on the concept of Chinese exploration of Africa and its determination to develop the dark continent by way of dedication, commerce and financial security, insisting China has no intention of colonization. We talked about many other stuff including his employment at American University of Nigeria (AUN) where he would now sit as professor of Asian politics and International relations. Alvin just got to Nigeria some days ago and having a feel of Abuja in his new 2-bedroom apartment.

Excerpt:
Tell me about yourself.


I am from Singapore, which like Nigeria was a British colony. I studied Philosophy and Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, receiving my BA (Hons.) degree in 1999 and my MA in 2002. I moved to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to lecture in Philosophy at Pannasastra University in 2005, and in 2008 I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, to start my Ph.D. studies in Political Science. I graduated with my Ph.D. in May 2011, and am currently expanding my dissertation into a book, "Cambodia and the Politics of Aesthetics."

Let us talk about your teaching assignment in Nigeria. How did the Nigerian project get started?


Back in February I saw a notice from the American University of Nigeria looking for a professor in Asian Studies. At that time I was completing my dissertation and felng assignment in Nigeria. How did the Nigeria project get stat that this was an interesting opportunity to pursue. I had always been interested in Africa, the cradle of humanity, and my interest had been peaked by my Ph.D. readings in postcolonial African writers like Frantz Fanon, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Achille Mbembe. I sent in my job application and was pleasantly surprised when I was contacted in March for the job interview.

How would you describe your feelings when you picked up your STR Visa confirming the assignment to lecture in one of Nigeria’s universities?


I felt very excited - this is a big move for me, as this will be my first time in Africa, a continent I've only read and dreamed about.

What would you be doing in Nigeria?


I'll be teaching courses in Asian politics and international relations. I'll also be completing "Cambodia and the Politics of Aesthetics" and starting on my second book.

From your point of view, what area of discipline needs more attention as the country’s higher institutions faces the challenges of better education?

There's always a tension in the relationship between the economy and education, in that the graduates of the education system may not have the knowledge and skills necessary for job creation or even to fill the available jobs in the economy. Cambodia and the USA are having big problems with unemployed and unemployable graduates, and this problem exists in many other countries as well. The challenge is to encourage entrepreneurship on one hand and on the other to ensure a match of knowledge and skills with the existing needs of the job market.

What do you hope to accomplish?


I hope to equip my students with a good understanding of Asia, especially if they plan to do business or make a living there after they graduate.

Chinese migration to Nigeria has overwhelmingly grown over the years. The general feelings are that the country is facing another era of colonization. What’s your take on that viewpoint?

I agree with Dambisa Moyo that Nigeria and other African states should take advantage of the investment offered by China to accelerate their economic growth. In addition, China's economic boom has created a vast consumer market that the world's firms are doing their best to expand into, and Nigeria's entrepreneurs should not get left behind. Does this economic engagement represent a new form of colonization? Nigeria has to weigh the economic opportunities against the social impact of the new migrants.

Do you think Chinese migration to Nigeria has any favorable economic impact?

Consider a recent example. In April it was announced that China will loan $900 million to Nigeria to rehabilitate its rail and communications networks. Such an improvement in transportation infrastructure, in particular, the planned construction of the rail link between Abuja and Kaduna, promises substantial economic benefits.

You speak several languages. How are you integrated with Chinese language and culture?


Singapore has a bilingual education policy, such that students have to learn English as well as their mother tongue, which in my case is Mandarin Chinese. Culturally I belong to the Straits Chinese, that is, the culture of the Chinese migrants who settled in British Malaya, the territory that later became Malaysia and Singapore.

When you read the letter from Routledge’s Editorial Board approving your book for publication, what was your reaction?


I felt as happy as I did when I passed my dissertation defense. I was on tenterhooks the past several months as my manuscript went through the peer review process, and was relieved when it passed both the peer review as well as the editorial board's selection process.

You gave a hint that the book was an expansion of your dissertation, ‘using political and aesthetic theory to reflect on the violent history of Cambodia.’ Why did you pick Cambodia?


I chose Cambodia for my Ph.D. research based on the developments I had witnessed during my 3 years of work in Phnom Penh. Cambodia has suffered one of the most violent transitions in recent history, and I was deeply impressed by the resilience of its people.