AUN president advises FG against IDPs camps’ closure

The President of American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State, Margee Ensign, has urged the government to have a rethink over the planned closure of Internally Displaced Persons camps next month. She said the transformation of some female students of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, who were abducted by Boko Haram members, remained one of the greatest achievements of the university in its 10 years of existence. Ensign said after their rehabilitation, the Chibok girls were excelling in their academic pursuits at AUN. The AUN president spoke with journalists during activities to commemorate the institution’s Founders Day. According to her, the AUN is proud that for over 18 months, it has been taking care of IDPs. She said, “The IDPs are very healthy women and kids. At the height of the crises, we were training and feeding 76, 000 people. Somebody said they are now up to 150, 000. A few days ago, we fed 50,000. “You need to write about this because Nigerians still think everyone went to the camps, maybe three per cent of people fleeing Boko Haram attacks went to the federal or state camps. We have had them in our community; the community has been stretched beyond limits. I don’t know how they have done it but what the university and the peace initiative have done is to make sure they have food and medicine. “I am really proud of that and we will continue to do more, but there is a feeling that the worst of the Boko Haram violence is over, I pray it is. But we still have hungry people in Yola. “I have seen it three times in the Northern part of the country, I have seen the devastation of academic structures, the bridge is down, the field is burnt, the schools, churches and mosques burnt and so they can’t go home. Most of them are here with us and the government now said they are closing the camps in December. That means even those that are left, where will they go? That is still a big challenge.” Asked what could be the most memorable things that cannot be forgotten in the one decade of AUN’s existence, she said it is the Chibok girls. Ensign said, “It is probably the Chibok students. Most of them are doing better and they are excelling in their academics and to me that is what education is all about. These kids were really traumatised. “It is a great privilege to be in your country and to have our founder who is good to me and to have that level of support is quite extraordinary.” According to her, the peace initiative put in place by the AUN has trained over 15,000 young people, adding that no young person associated with the AUN has joined Boko Haram. “I am almost proud of that somehow, we kept these young kids educated and full of hope. I think we have a model in Yola on how to deal with youth unemployment, lack of education, lack of hope and I think it is very important as we look around the world and even reflect on what happened in Paris this week”, Ensign said.