The newly sworn-in Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mammam, and the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, have assumed duties, expressing commitment to revamp the troubling education sector.
This is even as the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on the ministers to immediately find a lasting solution to the incessant strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other staff unions in the nation’s tertiary education system.
There was wide jubilation by the staff of the Federal Ministry of Education and supporters of the Ministers to welcome the duo to the Ministry soon after their swearing-in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday.
The Ministers were received in the office by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Andrew David Adejo, and other heads of education parastatals and agencies, amongst others.
Speaking, Mammam solicited the support of Nigerians in order to bring about the desired change in the education sector.
He noted that once the education sector is fixed, everything else will work perfectly in the country since the Education Ministry is the foundation of it all.
Mamman said expectations were huge for the sector, adding that President Tinubu is resolutely committed to turning the tide around.
Until his appointment by President Tinubu as Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman was the Vice-Chancellor of Baze University and had also served as the Director-General of the Nigeria Law School from 2005 to 2013.
Mamman, who was conferred as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2015, is a recognised member of the Board of Benchers.
Earlier, the Minister of State, Sununu, sought the cooperation and understanding of Nigerians, especially the Ministry staff, to improve the standard of education.
The Permanent secretary pledged to cooperate with the Ministers for a successful operation.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has tasked the new ministers of education to immediately address the issue of tuition hikes by some Federal Universities and ensure that the affected institutions reverse the former registration fees students were meant to pay.
Vice President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Ezenagu Victor, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune on the expectations of Nigerian students from the new ministers, also charged the ministers to find a lasting solution to the incessant strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other staff unions in the nation’s tertiary education system.
He said there were a lot of expectations from students and indeed other stakeholders for the new ministers to fix and restore the lost glory of Nigeria’s education system, saying this requires political will to properly interrogate the sector while ensuring prudent utilisation of resources allocated to the sector by heads of agencies and tertiary institutions across the country.
Ezenagu Victor also called on the new ministers to work assiduously to ensure the early takeoff of the Students Loan Scheme, which was approved by President Ahmed Tinubu on the assumption of office to provide succour for the indigent students in line with the vision of the President.
The education sector in the country has been bedevilled with so many challenges, particularly the incessant strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the huge number of out-of-school children estimated at about 10.2 million, and poor funding, among others.
Recall that during the last administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, with Malam Adamu Adamu as Minister of Education, the education sector witnessed prolonged strike actions by ASUU, and in the process, the lecturers were forced back to classrooms on the order of the court during the last strike that lasted for eight months.
While there was no concrete agreement signed by the parties to end the strike, the eight months’ salaries of ASUU members withheld by the Federal Government on account of the implementation of the no-work, no-pay policy are yet to be paid to lecturers.
The industrial actions usually border on the failure of the government to implement agreements reached with staff unions, poor welfare, a dearth of infrastructure, a shortage of academics, and poor funding, among others.
The Executive Director of Education Rights Initiative (ERI), Dr Solomon Udah, urged the Minister of Education, Prof. Mamman, not to politicise the management of education, saying the Minister, who was coming from the management of one of the most successful private universities in Nigeria, should be able to enunciate policies and a programme aimed at revamping the education sector in Nigeria.
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