Reactions follow Mamman’s sacking as education minister – News – The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

The reactions have followed the dismissal of the former Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman.

Nigerians who took to social media to celebrate the sacking of the minister described it as more good news. They based their anger on the age restriction on university admission announced by the former minister.

For the leader, Center of Excellence in Reproductive Health Innovation at the University of Benin, Professor Friday Okonofua, it is the “best decision ever” by President Bola Tinubu.

Taking to his Facebook account immediately after the sacking was announced, Prof. Okonofua, the pioneer Chancellor of the Ondo State University of Medical Sciences, could not contain his joy at the development, though he condemned the former minister’s decision to exclude students. writing the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) due to age.

“Congratulations Nigerians. Minister says our children can’t do WAEC until they are 18 dismissed… Best decision by the President ever. Thank you Mr. President,” said the Don.

Another netizen, Edos Idahosa, said: “I too was happy that the fate of our children has been freed from their work.”

The Guardian reports that Professor Mamman’s tenure has been marred by controversy over the Federal Government’s decision to set an age limit of 18 for applicants for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria .

Recall that at the 2024 policy meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the minister introduced a policy that set 18 as the minimum age for admission to tertiary institutions.

However, this has generated significant debate and criticism, as the decision received strong opposition from heads of institutions, including vice-chancellors, provosts and provosts.

In August, while appearing on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme, the former minister also announced that the federal government had banned under-18s from participating in the National Examinations Council and West African Examinations Council examinations.

Commenting on his X-handling, @SOTesleem tweeted: “The (former) Education Minister deserves the sack for making the infamous tertiary admission age restriction his biggest political statement “.

In a telephone interview with The Guardian last night, the National Mobilization Officer of the Rights to Education Campaign, Adaramoye Michael (Lenin), said: “The first thing to note is that we all agree that the deposed Minister of Education oversaw an education sector that not only failed, but failed to meet the expectations and wishes of many actors in the education sector”.

According to him, Professor Mamman was relieved of his appointment due to political permutations and not because of his age restriction policy.

He has asked the president to declare a state of emergency in the education sector as a matter of urgency.

On his own, the initiator of the Center for Creative Change, Omole Ibukun, said the termination will not change anything about what he called “systemic problems” facing the sector.

“The dismissal of the Minister of Education may not change anything in the education sector. This is because the problem in the education sector is systemic and cannot be reversed by firing one person. The turns to the outgoing minister’s policy on age restrictions are shameful and anti-intellectualism, but what about the president’s own student loan policy, which commercialized education? he told The Guardian.