The American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, has launched a N1bn naira appeal fund in partnership with the Adamawa Peace Initiative for persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.
According to an announcement on the university website, the fund is to help resettle refugees displaced by the activities of Boko Haram.
It is believed that about 1.5 million people, are displaced and homeless.
AUN President and Chair of API, Dr. Margie Ensign, said the fund will bring succour to their affected people.
“With the end of the Boko Haram in sight, we must focus on rebuilding the shattered communities and their dislocated people,” Ensign was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated 801,000 US Dollars to ensure the education of over 20,000 out of school children in Adamawa.
The gesture is aimed at empowering Almajiris, those displaced by insurgency and out of school children that are not able to attend school because of one social problem or the other.
American University of Nigeria (AUN) is saddled with the responsible of making sure the children are educated through the Technology Enhance Learning for All (TELA), a one year USAID project to AUN which is to make sure all vulnerable children are educated through the use of radio, mobile classroom severs, tablets and follow up tutorials on face to face sessions.
The AUN President, Dr. Margee Ensign said that non-formal learning centers have been established across Yola and Jimeta community members have been engaged as facilitators to coordinate the activities of the centres.
Ensign added that the TELA project will coordinate with Adamawa State Government to ensure access to and use of public facilities and schools as non formal learning centers, and also effectively utilize the deep reach and strong community connections of the AUN – Adamawa peace Initiative (API) and partners to engage facilitators, reach beneficiaries and disseminate project information.
The launching of the project in Yola was attended by the founder of AUN and former Vice-President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as well as the Adamawa State Governor, Bindo Jibrilla.
Atiku sympathised with the children for not being in school at the time they should, taking personal responsibility and blaming previous governments for not doing what they should have done to encourage the enrollment of school pupils. The former Vice-President emphasized his commitment to invest more on education as the sure way of having peace in the North-East region of the country who are backward in education.
He told them not to have any excuse of not going to school now, as everything they needed to be educated is being provided.
In a series of tweets, Atiku noted that education is the best gift we can give to people in need.
I spent today with children from our community, at the launch of Technology Enhanced Learning for All (TELA) in Yola pic.twitter.com/I1bxnYpiKw
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 1, 2016
TELA is an @AUNigeria project, teaching basic literacy and numeracy to vulnerable children, sponsored by @USAID pic.twitter.com/oYds8g26IQ
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 1, 2016
I’m very excited about the @AUN_TELA project. 20,000 IDP children will get valuable education. pic.twitter.com/zoZXH3FpGe
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 1, 2016
Education is the best gift we can give to those in need. Thanks to the young people volunteering to teach others. pic.twitter.com/HY4fAciqnj
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) February 2, 2016
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sirOscie.
February 3, 2016 at 11:13 am
THIS IS THE KIND OF CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE IN NIGERIA. WELL DONE TURAKI NIGERIA. MAY THE ALMIGHTY CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU AS YOU PUT SMILES ON THE FACES OF THE HELPLESS.