TWELVE years after its establishment, the Maryam Abacha American University of Niger (MAAUN), in Maradi, Niger Republic, has produced five Provosts of Nursing Colleges in Borno, Yobe, and Bauchi States.
Dr. Hadiza Sabo, a graduate of Nursing from the University, is the current Provost of Shehu Sule College of Nursing and Midwifery, in Damaturu, Yobe State.
Equally, Dr. Hadiza Yahya is serving as Provost, College of Nursing Sciences in Maiduguri, Borno State, while Dr. Rakiya Saleh is the Provost, Colleen of Nursing Sciences in Bauchi, Bauchi State. The trio all bagged their first and postgraduate degrees from MAAUN.
Also, Kiloh Nifor, who is also the Provost, College of Nursing Sciences in Jalingo, Taraba State, and Dr. Yusuf Bello, the Provost, Kaduna State College of Nursing Sciences, are also alumni of the university.
MAAUN, which was founded in 2013, is owned by Professor Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo, a philanthropist and French Linguistics scholar.
This newspaper reports that the Faculty of Law of MAAUN-Maradi, established only in 2015, has produced over 400 law graduates, with more than a hundred of them already called to the Nigerian Bar.
In addition, over 1,000 Medical Laboratory Scientists produced by MAAUN are presently working in Nigeria, while no fewer than 700 of them are practising abroad.
It would be recalled that the institution was the first to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in Niger Republic, where thousands of nursing officers trooped for their university education from different countries.
“The Nursing Degree programme greatly increased the number of nursing graduates in Nigeria. The university started offering Nursing in 2012 and has so far graduated over 2,000 graduates who are rendering their services at different hospitals in Nigeria and abroad,” said the university’s President, Prof. Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo.
Barrister Umar Isa Sulaiman, a law lecturer at MAAUN, while speaking with journalists, said that their Faculty commenced academic activities in 2013, adding: “Our graduates are working in different government agencies and parastatals. Some are Sharia Court Judges, Magistrates, and some are working in the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“Also, a high number of our graduates are in private practice. We do meet and appear before different courts. I can categorically tell you that they are doing wonderfully well as advocates.”
Furthermore, the Prof. Adamu Gwarzo-owned university has been positively impacting the lives of several Nigerians.
A MAAUN graduate of Nursing, Hamisu Iliyasu, who hailed from Sokoto State, spoke on how his alma mater produced many Directors and Heads of Nursing Colleges in Nigeria.
“You know universities in the North don’t offer Nursing; you either go to the South or you end up retiring at Level 14 as a civil servant. But our prestigious Maryam Abacha American University came to the rescue of so many of us, and we are grateful,” he said.
According to Dr. Kabiru Mahmud, a staff member of the Medical Laboratory Sciences Department of MAAUN, “Our great and pace-setting university has helped increase the number of Medical Laboratory Scientists, not only in Northern Nigeria but in the country at large. We have students from across the country.
“Some came from Lagos, Benin, and Ibadan. I can categorically tell you that Maryam Abacha American University of Niger has the highest number of young Medical Laboratory Scientists in Nigeria.
“Before now, one could hardly find someone with a degree in this field, but only a Diploma. But MAAUN came and provided the opportunity to many undergraduates. Go to Federal Medical Centres across the country, and you will find it difficult counting the number of their staff who are our products.”
The university, according to findings, has produced the highest number of graduate nurses working in Canada, USA and others.