I feel privileged heading a university in Nigeria – Prof Ensign

What were your thoughts of Nigeria before you came? I knew that Nigeria was the largest country in population on the continent, filled with enthusiastic vibrant people. So I looked forward to coming and having possibly an impact on students who might go on to be future leaders of this big important country. Knowing you […]

What were your thoughts of Nigeria before you came?

I knew that Nigeria was the largest country in population on the continent, filled with enthusiastic vibrant people. So I looked forward to coming and having possibly an impact on students who might go on to be future leaders of this big important country.

Knowing you would be in education, what did you know of the Nigerian education system?
Before I came did some research and discovered that with the population growing as fast as Nigeria’s, it’s very difficult for any educational system to keep up with the demand. I knew Nigeria had so many young people out of school; that it was impossible to keep up with building schools and training teachers when your population is literarily exploding. One of the reasons I was excited about AUN was because it has the technological infrastructure that other universities on the continent don’t have and that it might give us the opportunity to reach many of those young people.

AUN recently celebrated 10 years. What has the experience been like for you?
I wasn’t there, unfortunately, at the beginning when all those courageous pioneers came to Yola and built it. In my four and a half years, it has been a wonderful challenge. A joy to be with students I consider among the best in the world. To be working with colleagues from 33 countries; we have a mini UN out in Yola and with people who are deeply committed to not only giving the best education we can to our students, but making sure that our part of Nigeria stays peaceful and that development really moves quickly so that peoples’ lives, at least in our area can be improved.

Why did you decide to pay particular attention to early childhood care and how can it be improved upon because it’s a significant part of the educational system that’s lacking?
I don’t know too much about how others are doing it in Nigeria. I know the person who established it who had run our primary and secondary schools, this was her expertise in the US and she felt it was really important we did this. I was happy to do it because we have several thousand employees to begin with. I would see their children being taken care of by other young children which is inexcusable that these children aren’t in school. I believe there’s got to be a national push at every level because if you can ensure those babies are getting the stimulation and education they need then they can live to their full potentials.

You’ve got a background in education, politics, economics and development amongst others. How do you marry them all to be Margee Ensign?
I’m sure I don’t marry them very well (laughter). I wake up every day and again feel priviledged to have the opportunity to lead AUN. We’re facing new tremendous challenges at the moment and I’m trying to draw on all of my education and experiences in Rwanda, Kenya and other places to try to figure out how the university can contribute to keeping the peace, to ensuring that almost 400, 000 internally displaced people in our community now, have enough to eat. At this moment, it’s a great challenge for all of us and everyone in Nigeria.

Do you think you would have been better off staying back in the US rather than come to Nigeria?
It’s impossible to answer but I would say no. But sometimes I think a job really demands all of us and I’ve always wanted that. To see if I could do it and so no, I don’t think so. I would be frank, I’m a bit frustrated with higher education’s progress or lack of progress in my country also because I think we’ve built a real elitist model and we must break out of that model and make sure everyone has access to an education. It’s not hard now because with information technology most of the world’s knowledge is on the internet. Our job as educators is very different. It’s teaching people how to access and how to evaluate that information. We’re doing free ICT training in the community and people who do the best we allow to go on. We had an 83 year-old man in our first class. I shook his hand and asked what he would be doing with his new-found knowledge. He was so clear when he said, ‘I’m going to MIT’s website so that I can get my free education.’ That’s the transformative power we have at our finger tips. It’s a great opportunity and challenge to make sure more people like him have and understand it.

From your experience with interacting with students from around the world, how would you rate the average Nigerian student?
Commenting on our students at AUN, not only are they as good as any students I’ve taught whether at Georgetown or Columbia, they seem to understand that it’s a very critical moment for their country and that they must learn as much as they can and be ready because Nigeria is growing so fast. I keep telling them they’ll be the leaders of the fifth largest country in the world in their prime. Actually, Nigeria will be third, the new data is out. I really find these young people excited, enthusiastic about the challenges ahead; sometimes nervous. But I really feel they’re extraordinary young people who are smart, passionate. I don’t have words for Nigeria when I see them.

Do you think there’s a missing link in the way the educational system is organised?
I think there has to be a much larger role for the use of technology. That’s a challenge not only for Nigeria but for every country. There are still people who think that education is second best. All the research shows us if you do blended learning well, it can be far better, at least equal to, if not better than traditional in-class education. When you look at education for hundreds of years, how have we evaluated whether people are learning; whether we’re doing our jobs? It’s through grades and through alums. So if you use that measure our alums are doing amazingly well. There are good grades, good goals and those who are starting their own companies. I’m so proud of them. I think 65 percent of them already have Masters degrees. And we’re only ten years old. Four or five percent are in PhD programs. They’re going on and realise they have to keep learning. But I think the missing link for the whole world is to figure out how to use technology wisely to reach not just our students who are very computer literate… our e-library won the American Library Association’s award last year for one of the best three e-libraries in the world. So we have it. Now it’s how do you best deploy it. I really think we can really be a leader if allowed to do things for the country and the continent that will dramatically change the face of education and make it much more accessible. I worry about what’s going to happen to those 11 million children who are out of school or those of the 400, 000 IDPs in our community?