Participants attend the British Council’s Going Global 2014 conference in Miami. (Photo courtesy The British Council)
Enrollment at Nigeria’s Federal University Dutse, a newly established college located in the country’s historic city of Dutse, is at an all-time high, and Adamu—the school’s registrar—now has to develop new strategies to accommodate students who want to use their education to become active participants in Africa’s emerging economy.
“We don’t want to duplicate efforts,” says Adamu, who made the 12-hour trek by plane in April to Miami to participate in the Going Global conference. The conference was sponsored by the British Council, an international organization that promotes educational opportunities and cross-cultural relations around the world. “We live in a global world, so we have to find innovative ways to partner with other institutions and learn from them. We see this as an absolute necessity.”
Founded in 2011, Federal University Dutse, which boasts a student population of about 1,000, is now looking to become competitive enough to send some of its best students abroad while also becoming a destination spot for students in the United States and elsewhere who want to learn about African culture and history.
“Even as we grow beyond our capacity, we still want to become better known outside of Nigeria,” says Adamu. “And we want to form partnerships with other colleges across the globe.”
Opportunities abroad
Not long ago, universities—much like their governments—were reluctant to share best practices and strategies with foreign academic institutions looking to replicate successful programs.
