Arabic

THE DEPARTMENT OF ARABIC

Arabic Department

The department of Arabic was founded in what was then Abdullahi Bayero College, Kano, a Faculty under Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The Department began to offer courses in the Arabic Language and literature of all the classical literary periods including modern and contemporary times and the contributions of Nigerian and West African scholars to Arabic studies at the undergraduate level.

One and a half decades after inception placed the department on solid academic foundation owing mainly to the richness of its environment in Arab and Islamic culture, in addition to the presence at the time of the Arab scholars who had worked there as lecturers and supervisors of research works. However, with the diminishing economic fortunes of Nigeria in the early eighties, the indigenous lecturers who received training at graduate level in Egypt, Sudan, U.K., U.S. and in the department, assumed completely the duties of their forerunners to consolidate further and develop on previous academic achievements.

ADMINISTRATION

The Head of Department is the chief executive of the department who coordinates and directs all departmental academic and administrative activities with the assistance of the level coordinators, examination officers as well as all the teaching and non-teaching staff. With the passage of time the Department seems to gain a reputation in both Nigeria and outside of being a leading centre of Arabic Studies in Nigeria. This is evident in the keen interest of the applicants from different corners of the country to study there. Also the academic staff of the department have to their credit a number of Arabic text books which are being used in secondary and tertiary levels of education.Arabic Department In terms of linkages with international organizations and institutes, the department has a linkage with the World Islam Call Society and its University College of Islamic Call in Libya. Also it has linkages with the Arab League Educational Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) and the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). The department drew dividends from such linkages in form of enriching its library, securing a highly qualified academic staff under whom some of our staff received their Ph.ds and the opportunity of hosting a number of conferences and a workshop for the Arabic teachers in Nigerian Secondary Schools. The department has a reputable academic journal which publishes researches and studies.

Quiet recently the academic programme was reviewed to capture new developments in the study of Arabic language and literature including the introduction of the application of information technology in Arabic studies.