Shettima Hails AUN’s Chibok Graduates, Calls for Education Reform at 17th Commencement
Daji Sani in Yola
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has commended the American University of Nigeria (AUN) for its role in educating 12 more young women from Chibok, describing the milestone as proof that education can serve as restoration and a long-term response to extremism.
The message was delivered on his behalf by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad Said, at AUN’s 17th commencement ceremony in Yola, Adamawa State.
Shettima said he could not attend due to state duties but wanted the graduating class to know of his personal pride.
In his address, the vice-president distinguished between performative excellence and the consistent, outcome-driven standard, which he said AUN embodies.
He positioned the institution as Nigeria’s premier private university and a continental reference point for values-driven education rooted in African realities.
The Federal Government, he noted, salutes the vision of AUN’s founders, the stewardship of its board, and the commitment of faculty and management who have kept that vision alive. The ceremony, he said, represents more than academic achievement.
Shettima focused on the Chibok graduates, recalling that their abduction over a decade ago was a national wound, adding that their graduation in gowns with earned degrees shows healing arriving quietly, through years of work that once seemed impossible.
He stressed that AUN’s approach was not charity but institutional faith, holding the students to the same standards as every other graduate and presenting them with futures defined by capability, not past violence.
“Your country sees you. Your country is proud of you,” he told the graduates.
The vice-president used the occasion to issue a challenge to Nigerian universities, urging them to study AUN’s Chibok Scholarship Programme.
He framed it as a proof of concept for education as security strategy and the most durable response to extremism.
Shettima outlined the President Bola Tinubu administration’s education agenda, centred on the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative, or NESRI, saying the plan aims to sharpen learning outcomes, strengthen accountability, expand equitable access and build human capital for Nigeria’s economic future.
He also highlighted the National EdTech Strategy, developed with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, which treats technology as core architecture rather than an add-on, adding that the policy frameworks are being built around AI’s rapid reshaping of work and higher education.
Turning to the economy, Shettima addressed Nigeria’s technology talent deficit, which he said is growing due to structural gaps between academia and industry.
He referenced recent public debate sparked by a fintech executive who struggled to fill hundreds of roles locally.
While acknowledging that skilled Nigerian engineers now have global options, he argued the structural gap remains real, adding that universities are producing graduates in volume but not always in the configurations industry needs, and the feedback loop with the private sector is too weak.
Shettima called on AUN to formalize and scale its industry partnership model, creating sustained pipelines with tech and fintech firms and allowing industry needs to shape curriculum in real time.
He pledged the Ministry of Education’s readiness to partner in building that architecture.
Addressing the Class of 2026 directly, he said their education carries a cost paid by families and the institution, and that Nigeria needs them to return that investment by tackling national problems in public service, technology, health, agriculture and policy. “Be that kind of Nigerian,” he urged.
He closed by congratulating AUN’s leadership, faculty, staff and students for maintaining global standards in a challenging environment, and told the graduates they leave as partners of the Federal Government in building the Nigeria that is possible.