Stories by Ibrahim Ramalan
In a bid to bring home what is sought after overseas, Al-mustapha Institute of Peace and Social Rehabilitation (APIS) in collaboration with the University of Abuja has started running professional courses in peace and conflict management, criminology, corruption and leadership studies.
Speaking in Abuja during the Orientation and Documentation of the incoming students for the 2016/2017 Session, the Director General of the Institute, Prof. Danladi Atu said that APIS said the institute is collaborating and affiliating with the University of Abuja in the area of technical support, saying, “they provide the technical staff for the programe, they do the certification as well as the admission, while we provide the facilities and coordinate the programme.”
The DG said the institute runs masters degrees and post-graduate diplomas that are so flexible that could tolerate all the students’ work schedules.
“The programme is so flexible that it would suit their work schedule.
We have a dual pedagogy – online and direct teaching. So they will be doing a lot of things on their own. The duration of the course is 12 calendar months,” he said.
“We want to replicate what is obtainable in oversees, especially now that the Federal government is insisting that we should look inwards. Before now, we actually used to facilitate these students to universities abroad. In view of the current cash crunch, we decided to domesticate these programmes so as to cut cost,” Atu added.
While answering questions from the newsmen on the efforts the University is putting in place to ensure that quality students are produced in the institute, the Coordinator of the programme, Prof. E N Danladi who is serving as a bridge between the institute and the University of Abuja, said the admission policy into the institute is the same with the university of Abuja. He added:
“The benchmark used to admit students into our regular programmes is same. So, virtually the institute is a promising one in terms of standard and churning our good products.”
According to him, APIS is regarded as part of the university community and this is one other way of making the university fulfill its social responsibilities to the people.
“APIS is adding up to strive for making available and affordable most of the professional courses that some Universities in Nigeria could not run. He therefore decried the perception of some Nigerians who think education could not be run while pursuing their careers.
“The perception of most Nigerians is that education must be within the 4 walls of the classroom. They don’t seem to understand that education is meant to liberate us from social problems, economic and political problems. So education is far better when people who are already practicing what they have learnt in the formal school,” he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the founder/CEO of the institute, Al-Mustapha Peace, Unity and Development Initiative, APUDI, Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha said the need to provide alternative platforms for pursuing educational dreams of Nigerians made him to midwife the idea of setting up the institute, thus meeting of the expectations of students and society was key to the programmes of the institute.
Al-Mustapha, who was represented by his son, Al-Mustapha Hamza Al-Mustapha further explains that the institute would not only lay emphasis on theoretical knowledge alone but also on issues that relate directly or indirectly to our development as a nation.
“Every single human being has a unique identity and that unique identity, if explored properly, can contribute greatly to the society as a whole. This brings me to say that this institution is merely a platform for exchanges. We have to learn from you too because of the collective unique identities you possess,” Al-mustapha said.
