I had no prior experience in education sector when Buhari named me a minister — Adamu

Mallam Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, admitted on Thursday that when President Muhammadu Buhari (retd) appointed him in 2015, he had no prior experience in the field.

The minister disclosed this at a farewell meeting organized by Ministry officials and the chiefs of the parastatals of the ministry.

Adamu, upon his appointment, shared his idea with those he called on to help him with a policy document on education.

“I didn’t know anything about the education sector when I was appointed Minister except superficially. But when Buhari decided to make me Minister of Education, I called some people to assist me work on a policy document on education because I was a novice in the sector. I shared my idea with them and they assisted me greatly, and I remain grateful to them for these years,” the minister said.

He, however, commended President Buhari for counting him worthy of such a task.

“I was busy making recommendations and suggestions to the President on who to appoint into his cabinet in 2015. All of a sudden, he announced my name to my surprise and that was it. We worked together till 2019.

“In 2019, I approached the President and suggested that he reshuffle his cabinet because, in the eyes of many, it was unusual in our society for a President to work with the same Ministers for four years. Buhari had graciously allowed his Ministers to stay in office for four years. Ordinarily, Ministers stay in office for two years before they are reshuffled.

Adamu Adamu is the longest-serving Minister of Education since Nigeria’s restoration to democratic governance in 1999.

Adamu was appointed as the Minister of Education by the outgoing President, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2015. He held the position for 91 months.

The education sector witnessed a lot of crises during his long sojourn as Nigerian’s minister of education.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, among others, participated in the most industrial strike actions during his administration, but the sector also saw the adoption of new policies and an increase in the number of new institutions, among other things.

For instance, during his administration, teachers were given a new retirement age.