Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has lashed out at the latest policy of the Tinubu administration on setting age limits for tertiary education admissions. He described it as antiquated and detrimental to scholarship.
The Federal Government on Sunday announced the prohibition of individuals under 18 from taking NECO and WAEC exams. This was announced by Education Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ program.
Writing via his verified twitter handle (now X), Atiku argued that the policy contradicts federal principles and reflects poorly on the current government’s leadership. He questioned the logic behind prioritizing such a regulation given the numerous challenges facing Nigeria’s education system.
He said: “Tinubu’s policy on age limit for tertiary education admission belongs in the Stone Ages. The recent policy of the Federal Ministry of Education pegging age limits for entry to tertiary institutions is an absurdity and a disincentive to scholarship.
“The policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we are pratising, and gives a graphic impression of how the Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea. Otherwise, how is such anti-scholarship regulation the next logical step in the myriad of issues besetting our educational system?”
The former Vice President pointed out that education falls under concurrent legislative powers in Nigeria’s constitution, with state governments having more authority than the federal government in this area. He argued that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to unilaterally impose such rules.
According to Atiku: “To be clear, the Nigerian constitution puts education in the concurrent list of schedules, in which the sub-national government enjoys more roles above the federal government. Therefore, it is extra-constitutional for the federal government to legislate on education in a manner similar to a decree.
“The best global standard for such regulation is to allow the sub-national governments to make respective laws or rules on education.” He counselled
The former Presidential Candidate of the oppossition Peoples Democratic PArty (PDP) suggested that global best practices would allow state governments to set their own education policies.
Atiku also expressed disappointment that the government appeared to have no provisions for gifted students, calling this an embarrassment that portrays Nigeria as unsupportive of exceptional academic talent.
“It is discouraging that even while announcing this obnoxious policy, the government inadvertently said it had no plan to cater for specially gifted pupils. That statement is an embarrassment to the body of intellectuals in the country because it portrays Nigeria as a country where gifted students are not appreciated.
“The irony here is that should the federal government play any role in education, it is to set up mechanisms that will identify and grant scholarships to gifted students not minding their ages before applying for admission into tertiary institutions.”
According to Atiku, if the federal government were to intervene in education, it should focus on identifying and supporting gifted students regardless of age, rather than imposing restrictive policies.
