Atiku blasts Tinubu’s administration over new age limit for university admissions

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the Federal Government’s new policy that sets a minimum age of 18 for university admissions. In a Facebook statement on Wednesday, August 28, Atiku compared President Bola Tinubu’s administration to a “lost sailor on high seas.”

This directive, announced by Minister of Education Tahir Mamman, aims to align university admissions with Nigeria’s 6-3-3-4 education system. Mamman stated that the policy is intended to prevent younger students from entering universities before they are mature enough to handle the transition from a controlled to an uncontrolled environment.

Mamman said, “The minimum age of entry into the university is 18. But we have seen students who are 15, 16 years old going in for the entrance examination. Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards too much. Mostly, it is the pressure of parents that is causing this. We are going to look at this development because the candidates are too young to understand what the whole university education is all about.”

Atiku, however, views the policy as both absurd and a barrier to educational advancement. He argued, “The policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we are practicing. And it gives a graphic impression of how the Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea.”

He criticized the federal government’s approach, saying, “How is such an anti-scholarship regulation the next logical step in the myriad of issues besetting our educational system? The Nigerian constitution places education on the concurrent list, meaning sub-national governments should have more control over educational matters.”

Atiku also expressed disappointment that the policy disregards specially gifted students, stating, “It is discouraging that even while announcing this policy, the government inadvertently said it had no plan to cater to specially gifted pupils. This statement is an embarrassment and portrays Nigeria as a country where gifted students are not appreciated.”

He concluded by denouncing the policy as outdated and detrimental to intellectual freedom, asserting, “This controversial policy belongs in the Stone Age and should be condemned by everyone who believes in intellectual freedom and accessibility.”