Reactions have trailed the sack of the immediate past Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman.
Nigerians who took to social media to celebrate the minister’s dismissal described it as a greater piece of good news. They hinged their anger on the age restriction on university admission announced by the former Minister.
For the Leader, Centre of Excellence in Reproductive Health Innovation, University of Benin, Prof. Friday Okonofua, it is President Bola Tinubu’s ‘best decision ever.’
Taking to his Facebook handle immediately after the sack was announced, Prof. Okonofua, pioneer Vice-Chancellor, Ondo State University of Medical Sciences, could not hold back his joy about the development, even as he condemned the former Minister’s decision to bar students from writing the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on account of age.
“Congrats to Nigerians. Minister saying our children cannot do WAEC until they are 18 years sacked…. Best decision of the President ever. Thank you, Mr. President,” the Don said.
Another netizen, Edos Idahosa, said: “I was happy too that the destiny of our children has been relieved of his job.”
The Guardian reports that Prof. Mamman’s tenure has been marred by controversy due to the Federal Government’s decision to set an age limit of 18 years for admission seekers in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Recall that at the 2024 Policy Meeting of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the Minister introduced a policy setting age 18 as the minimum age for tertiary institution admissions.
However, this has sparked significant debate and criticism, as the decision was met with stiff opposition from heads of institutions, including Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, and Provosts.
In August, while featuring on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme, the ex-Minister also announced that the Federal Government had prohibited individuals under the age of 18 from taking part in the National Examinations Council and West African Examinations Council examinations.
Commenting on his X handle, @SOTesleem tweeted, “(Former) Minister for Education deserves that sack for making the infamous age restriction for admission into tertiary education his biggest policy statement.”
In a telephone interview with The Guardian last night, National Mobilisation Officer, Education Rights Campaign, Adaramoye Michael (Lenin), said, “The first thing to note is that we all agree that the sacked Minister of Education was overseeing an education sector that has not only failed but did not meet up to the expectations and desires of many stakeholders in the education sector.”
According to him, Prof. Mamman was relieved of his appointment based on political permutations and not because of his policy on age restriction.
He called on the President to, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency in the education sector.
On his own, the Initiator, Creative Change Centre, Omole Ibukun, said the sack will not change anything due to what he called ‘systemic problems’ confronting the sector.
“The sack of the Education Minister might not really change anything in the education sector. This is because the problem of the education sector is systemic and cannot be reversed by sacking one person. The policy somersaults of the outgoing minister about age restrictions are shameful and anti-intellectualism, but what of the student loan policy of the president himself, which commercialised education?” he told The Guardian.
