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Photo: Ruqayya Dala

By Ruqayya Dala

My childhood holds some of the most interesting and fun-filled experiences anyone could hope for. Born in Potiskum, Yobe State, Northeast Nigeria, I developed consciousness of my surroundings, my siblings and parents, quite early. My life has been an endless stream of beauty and joy.

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Written by: Wadi Ishaku 

After six years as President of the American University of Nigeria, AUN, Yola, Adamawa State, Magee Ensign, Saturday, announced her resignation.

Ms Ensign made her decision public via an e-mail to the AUN community thus putting to rest weeks of speculations.

“Dear members of the AUN community, as you have already heard, I have come to the very painful decision to leave AUN. I did not come to this decision easily or lightly,” she wrote.

While describing the decision to leave as a hard choice, she, however, insisted it was purely on personal reasons.

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By Yana Paul

The Assistant Coordinator of Sustainability, American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, Adamawa State, Jennifer Che, said the university has been teaching people how to turn wastes to wealth.

Known as Yola Eco-essential Programme, the project was initiated in 2012 by a former professor of the university, Charles Reith, to encourage people to recycle and turn wastes into finished products.

“The aim of Yola Eco-Essential Program is to create awareness among residents of the city on how to live in sustainable environments,” said Mrs. Che.

She said plastic bags are some of the major waste materials in the country and can be found on roads, drainages, and homes.

Just like every other city in the country, Mrs. Che said Yola, which is host to AUN has tons of plastic bags which are toxic and very harmful to people and the environment.   

She argued that Nigeria needs to embrace sustainability initiatives, which would help in turning things people consider useless to valuable products.

“We thought of bringing something new and amazing that will impact positively on the lives of Yola residents and the environment. Since some of the wastes products do not degrade especially plastic bags, and are causing diseases, we came up with an idea of recycling them into something fashionable and appreciable.”

A student of the university, Bintu Zanna, said the idea of recycling waste was laughable when it was initially introduced by the authorities of the AUN.

“What? Recycling wastes? How can this be? These were some of the questions we asked. We even created jokes about using bags made from plastic bags,” Miss Zanna said.

“Little did we know it is not a joke. It was until we saw the beautiful bags made from recycled plastic bags some of us were tempted to learn how to knead the bags to make money. It was amazing that I earned about N15, 000 the first two weeks of joining the programme.”

A resident of Yola, Hadiza Iliyasu, said the programme has created wealth for many people, adding that with proceeds from the recycling business has helped her pay school fees for her children and provide other needs of her family.

“When I was introduced to this program, my son was about to drop out of school because I was unable to pay her school fees. I was introduced to the programme where I learnt how to knead and within a week, I was able to made three bags,” said Mrs. Iliyasu said.

“Each of the bags were sold each at N3, 500 because there are big ones. With the money, I was able to pay my child’s school fees.”

Mrs. Jenifer said no fewer than 200 people have been trained under the programme in Yola and Jimeta towns.

Currently, she said over 1000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), are enrolled in the programme and would soon pass out.

Speaking on the programme, the Assistant Dean of Students’ Affairs, Reginald Braggs said, “It’s a good idea to teach students sustainability because it helps them to think and be part of solutions to environmental problems.”

“AUN is clean not because it’s an American style university or a private university, but because sustainability is a key term.”

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by Ibanga Isine and Georgina Bako

Photo by Nelly Ating

Three alumni of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), will from December 9, host a photo exhibition to celebrate internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Adamawa State, North-east Nigeria.

The exhibition will take place at the Madugu Rockview Hotel, in Jimata, one of the suburbs of Yola Capital city.

Operating under the aegis of Akam Contemporary, the two-day programme tagged, “The Refugee Prayer,” will among other things, project human dignity through visual arts.

One of the organisers and AUN alumnus, Nelly Ating, said the human-interest photo exhibition will showcase gripping images of people displaced by insurgency; their smiles, pain, and resilience.

“The photo exhibition will curate the stories of these people for historical purposes, showcasing their strength and restoring trust in humanity,” Miss Ating said.

The exhibition will be organized by Miss Ating and Haye Okoh, both of AUN Class of 2012, and Ibrahim Ciroma of the Class of 2009.

The trio are working in collaboration with Team Bindow, the Adamawa State governor's pet project, and Pulse Nigeria, an online newspaper.

The event will also honour some local groups in the state for their support and commitment to helping and ameliorating the sufferings of the IDPs. 

Adamawa State governor, Muhammad Jibrila, will serve as special guest of honour at the event, which will also be attended by representatives of international aid organisations.

The Director-General of the National Emergency Agency, Mohammed Sani Sidi, is expected to give the keynote speech at the exhibition. 

 “The exhibition will celebrate the IDPs through our lenses and will honour some of the local groups that sacrificed their comfort, food, and shelter for victims of the insurgency.

“And this is the true African pride. Proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to cover medical bills of the IDPs,” Miss Ating said.