The federal government has said that it would not rescind its decision over sack of 13 vice chancellors of Nigerian universities which were established by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, disclosed this yesterday when he flagged off the 2015-2016 annual school census in Abuja.
He queried, “Do you reverse government decision simply because somebody has criticised them? I don’t think that it is all government decisions that go down well with everyone in the country.”
A coalition of Civil Society Groups had on Wednesday, protested the VCs sack, insisting that their sack and subsequent replacement with people mostly from the North violated the federal character principles.
The minister said the ministry had already received some complains from aggrieved Nigerians over the sack, adding that the complains are currently being looked into.
He said, “The ministry has received some representation from people who feel aggrieved because their tenure has not expired and we are looking at it”.
When asked specifically on the expected court cases that would arise from their sack, he simply said, “They have already written to us and we are looking at their complaints and we will reply in due course”.
Meanwhile, the federal government said it has rolled out a strategic plan for the recruitment of 500,000 teachers pledged by President Muhammadu Buhari at the 2016 budget presentation to the National Assembly.
Adamu said government would first recruit graduates with education background from the universities as well as National Certificate in Education (NCE) holders before considering those from other disciplines.
Although the recruitment was yet to take off, he said the ministry was still fine-tuning the process to make sure things does not go awry.
He explained that the annual basic secondary schools’ census is a policy, which is aimed at the collection, collation of education data to hone education planning for better administration and an informed education system.
Highlighting the importance of the census, Adamu said, “You need data in other to effect planning.
Police Disperse Protesting Students With Tear Gas
The Nigerian Police yesterday dispersed members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) who were protesting the sack of 13 vice chancellors.
The protesters, who were dispersed by a team of policemen around the Federal Secretariat, Abuja said they were angered that the minister for education, Malam Adamu Adamu was interfering unnecesarily in universities’ affairs.
According to the association, the minister also erred in the appointment of new vice chancellors.
Leader of the protesters, Mr Shehu said: “On February 12, 2016, the Federal Government, without due recourse to the governing councils of 12 Federal Universities and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), removed their vice-chancellors without any clear statement as to what their offences might have been.
“What is the reason for the sacking of the four vice-chancellors of Federal Universities and that of NOUN before the expiration of their tenures?
“We request that the Federal Government, should in the interest of due process, reverse its decision and reinstate the illegally sacked vice-chancellors.”
The NANS president accused the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of complicity in the sack of the VCs.
However, trouble started when the students smashed the windscreen of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) with registration number FG 23 A31, belonging the ministry of Niger Delta Affairs as it drove by.
All efforts by the policemen to ensure that the protesting students retreated were resisted. This eventually resulted in the firing of tear gas at them by the police.
Journalists and bystanders scampered for safety while the policemen made arrests.
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