Controversial policy, retrogressive blueprints caused Mamman’s sack – Stakeholders

Stakeholders in the Education sector has attributed “controversial policy, retrogressive and archaic blueprints” as among the reasons for the removal of Prof. Tahir Mamman as Minister of Education.

The stakeholders who spoke to the newsmen on Thursday in Abuja also attributed the former minister’s removal to inconsistencies in the appointment of governing boards of tertiary institutions.

The stakeholders spoke in reactions to the Wednesday’s cabinet reshuffle by President Bola Tinubu which saw the replacement of Mamman with Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare.

Dr Yusuf Sununu, the Minister of State for Education, was however lucky as he was redeployed as Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction;

The stakeholders noted that the tenure of Mamman as minister of education was bedevilled with controversies, notable, was his introduction of 18-year age limit for admission seekers into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

Mamman had announced at the 2024 Policy Meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), that from 2025, a child who has not attained the age of 18 years would not be given admission into tertiary institutions.

This decision had sparked widespread debate and opposition from Nigerians especially institutional leaders, including Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts and parents

Mr Ademola Ogunkoya, Educationist and a school proprietor said the country needed a minister that is digitally inclined and not one that would retrogress the sector with archaic policies.

Ogunkoya said Mamman had not done much in the sector as a minister, rather he was bringing policy of admission age limit into tertiary institutions capable of limiting the progress of Nigerian child.

”I commend the President for this decision especially on the removal of Prof. Mamman as minister of education.

”Nigerians are not happy with the 18 years admission policy he brought on board. We are in 21st century and limiting our children is one thing we are not happy with,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, another Stakeholder, Chidiebere Nwosu said Mamman was hypocritical in the introduction of the 18 years admission benchmark.

According to him, Mamman as Vice Chancellor of Baze University, Abuja, before his appointment as Minister, allegedly admitted underage students into the institution..

Nwosu explained that the country needed a vibrant minister who understood the workings of the ministry, thereby bringing reforms to tackle the myriad of challenges facing Nigeria’s educational institutions.

”President Tinubu’s cabinet reshuffle can be seen as a proactive measure to enhance the sector’s effectiveness,” he said.

Also, a top Civil Servant in the Ministry of Education who preferred anonymity, said the replacement of Mamman with Alausa would bring about some progressive changes in the sector.

”Dr Tunji Alausa was very active as Minister of State for Health, his vibrant performance and intellectual capacity is never in doubt. We need somebody like him to bring positive changes in the ministry .

”Education is a sensitive sector and we need someone who will bring to bare all experiences he has gathered in the private and public health to the education sector,” the source said

Also, Mr Bello Bako, an educationist expressed confidence in the redeployment of Alausa as the new minister of education.

Bako said Alausa’s testimony as the minister of state for health was commendable, hence his belief in his capacity to reshape the education sector.

Speaking on Mamman’s removal, Bako corroborated others that his policies on 18 years was retrogressive and capable of endangering the education of the Nigerian child.

According to him, this policy and others might be responsible for his removal by the President.

“Nigerian secondary school students have been performing excellently well in international competitions, so there is no justification limiting them by age

”This policy of 18 years before admission into tertiary institutions was unpatriotic and destructive to their future,” he said.

Bello suggested that Alausa should ensure the reversal of all the retrogressive policies brought by Mamman, adding that the new minister should flow with global best practices to move the sector forward.

In the same vein, Mr Emeka Umeh, an Assistant Director in one of the Federal Government parastatals, explained that education sector being one of the most important sector needs someone with passion to transform it.

According to Umeh, based on the peculiarity of the sector, it should be manned by not really an educationist but someone who is vast in taking decisions that would lead to the advancement of the sector.

Meanwhile, the National President, National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Alhaji Haruna Danjuma said the removal of Mamman was the prerogative of the president.

Danjuma, who differs on Mamman’s removal based on the outcry of 18 years admission age, said there could be other issues the president looked at that led to his removal.

“His removal is a normal thing that can happen anytime by the President who hired him in the firat place. I believe the president wanted someone that would turn around the education sector.

“We want to congratulate the new minister and pray for God to keep him as he moves education forward.

”The problem we are having in this sector is that we always want somebody who is in the field of education to be Minister. However, being a minister is just an administrative work.

”What the new minister need to do is to have actors that are in the field that will give him the transformative ideas, policies and programmes to turn the sector around

”So, being an educationist does not mean that one will handle education properly. Therefore, if you have a person that can handle the work well, why not give him that chance,” Danjuma said.

He, therefore, advised the new minister to do his best in making sure that education take its pride of place, while also calling on the federal government to give what’s due to education.