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| Tinubu’s Government Acting Like a Lost Sailor – Atiku |
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the Federal Government's recent policy on age limits for entry into tertiary institutions.
According to Daily Trust, the federal government has barred individuals under 18 from participating in the National Examinations Council (NECO) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exams.
In an interview with Channels Television, Minister of Education Prof. Tahir Mamman confirmed that the age limit for candidates taking the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), administered by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), remains 18 years.
On Wednesday, Atiku took to his X handle to describe the policy as absurd and a disincentive to scholarship.
He stated that the policy “gives a graphic impression of how the Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea.”
The 2023 Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) added that the policy belongs in the Stone Ages and should be condemned by everyone who believes in intellectual freedom and accessibility.
He said, “The policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we are practicing, 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?
“To be clear, the Nigerian constitution places education in the concurrent list of schedules, where sub-national governments have more roles than 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 sub-national governments to make respective laws or rules on education.
“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 regardless of their ages before applying for admission into tertiary institutions.
“This controversial policy belongs in the Stone Ages and should be roundly condemned by everyone who believes in intellectual freedom and accessibility.”
