By Martin Paul
Abuja
Former Vice-President and founder, American University of Nigeria (AUN), Atiku Abubakar, has frowned at the rate children drop out of school in the country.
A statement made available to Blueprint, stated that Abubakar, who raised the alarm in Yola at the 12th Founders’ Day ceremony and commissioning of projects of the university, observed that this had culminated in the “disturbing rate of Nigerian youths rooming the streets without going to schools”.
Desribing it as “a serious and dangerous challenge that must be addressed forthwith”, noted that youths were the future of the country, thus must be given necessary potential to face the digital world of today.
President of the university, Dr. Dawn Dekle, said a welcome address that the institution was established to offer a world-class, American style university education to Nigerians and African youths.
“AUN’s approach is rooted in the liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on producing well-rounded graduates and global citizens, who will take centre stage in key areas of politics, economy, business, IT and administration.
“Today’s Nigeria and Africa’s prosperity will thrive in the ability of citizens to establish businesses that will drive the economy. At AUN, we train students to become entrepreneurs who believe in themselves and meaningfully explore the opportunities in the community they find themselves.”
In his keynote address, the African Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Joe Perkinson, stressed the importance of education to youths across the world.
Perkinson observed with dismay the global misuse of the social media, especially, in spreading negative information to the target audience which he said must be checked immediately.
