Mallam Adamu Adamu and post-UME test

For decades and before the coming of the present administration, Nigeria’s education sector was marked out with a number of very opprobrious tags: “low quality graduates”,” fallen standard of education”, “unemployable graduates”, “declining quality and access”, “certificates which are mere meal tickets”, ”poorly trained teachers”,” institutions deficient in infrastructure for manpower training” , “ a […]

For decades and before the coming of the present administration, Nigeria’s education sector was marked out with a number of very opprobrious tags: “low quality graduates”,” fallen standard of education”, “unemployable graduates”, “declining quality and access”, “certificates which are mere meal tickets”, ”poorly trained teachers”,” institutions deficient in infrastructure for manpower training” , “ a shadow of real education system”, etc.
Worse still, successive administrations have injected whooping amount to this system that was neither alive nor dead. The establishment of the Tertiary Education Fund, TETfund, in 2011 through an Act to replace the former Education Tax Fund, ETF, created another conduit through which trillions more had been pumped into the same system, yet no appreciable difference was made in the way employers of labour see products of the institutions. It was like throwing scarce resources into a cesspool of organic rot.
Does such a scenario not throw up a herculean task to a new government that was voted by the people to change the ugly status quo? Would it not be ideal for anyone charged with the responsibility to reshape such a strategic Ministry that holds the ace for the expected development of the nation to global standard to take his time to plan his operation?
Is it no longer an ideal saying that anything worth doing at all is worth doing well? What is the crime in wanting to do things differently from what used to be? Must we become so used to fire brigade techniques to solving problems that the virtue in the wise maxim, “Look Before You Leap” no longer makes any meaning to us? If the fast lane approach did not yield the desired results in the past, why not we allow those who can to do it better, whatever it takes?
Incidentally, Mallam Adamu Adamu in his characteristic manner is not perturbed by cynicism. He is a man unrepentantly devoted to the “Change” mantra and believes that lasting change comes from commitment to those ideals that promote it.
As a votary to the All Progressives Party (APC’s) change agenda, he agreed with higher reasoning that it was imperative to reposition the process of conducting admission into our tertiary institutions given its prime position in the entire educational system.
Mallam understands party politics and so is bound to be loyal to it. He also understands that Nigerians expect his party to deliver on its campaign promises, which require that certain hard decisions be taken to achieve the goals.
Having understudied the sector and the perennial problems that militate against its development in the right direction, one can infer that recent directive by the Federal Government that certain practices in the nation’s tertiary institutions, which have had retrogressive impact on the citizenry should be discontinued with is an outcome of the Minister’s careful observation of the terrible experiment of the system.
One of such malpractice, as it were, by tertiary institutions is the post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the post-UTME test, which was introduced in 2003 because of obvious poor performance by the Joint Admission and Matriculation (JAMB) at that time, especially in terms of ensuring the authenticity and reliability of results of candidates that sat for the UTME examination.
Even when the anomaly was rectified by a new administration of the board under the leadership of Professor Dibu Ojerinde, one would have expected that schools end the post-UTME test and show a level of confidence in the improvement made by the board, especially the introduction of the computer-based test (CBT) which is also written in the computer centres of most of the schools.
Unfortunately, institutions went greedy about the exercise, turned it into a money spinning venture, with all forms of compromises, thereby defeating the purpose for which it was introduced ab initio.
Impressively, of all the previous administrations and the ministers that headed this sensitive ministry, only Mallam Adamu has been courageous enough to wield the sword of the Federal Government against that extortionist inclination of administrators of tertiary institutions.
A cross section of Nigerians has commended Adamu for his exceptional gallantry that has brought to an end years of post-UTME pretence and sanctimonious grandstanding of administrators of tertiary institutions who showcased themselves as patriots, trying to find healing for the malaise that had crippled the education sector, whereas they were busy enriching themselves with proceeds of extortion from Nigerian students.
Another timeless and very strategic milestone in Mallam Adamu’s sojourn in the Ministry of Education is his insistence that cost must be streamlined to an affordable limit for all Nigerians desirous of tertiary education. He care so much for the many Nigerians who pay through their nose to get certain necessary services that hold the keys to their future. His declarations at the recently concluded policy meeting speaks volumes of his person and his interest in the welfare of the Nigerian child who desires education but does not have the much that is expected of him financially by the managers of our educational system.
A responsibly responsive government will not hesitate to take decisions that will directly impact on its citizens and bring general relief and happiness.
Another very strategic achievement of Mallam Adamu is his moves to bring a lasting solution to the incessant clashes that have become a norm in tertiary institutions, especially those owned by the Federal Government because of unilateral hiking of fees by the administrators.
He has also shown great concern for the development of the privately owned institutions. He consistently maintained that the fees charged are too high for them to actually meet the purpose for which they were first established. He appreciate the fact that University education is expensive and the proprietors need proper funding structure to give quality education.  I believe this feeling is also geared towards looking for a solution for subsidising their tuition fees and also bringing them at per with the public institution hence they too are moulding Nigerians and contributing to the development of education.  How he is going to do it is best know to him and Nigerians should just trust that soon he will make another move that will create a level ground for all Nigerians to choose which school they want to attend irrespective of whether it’s privately or publicly owned.
While the Honourable Minister, in his usual administrative style, is consulting widely and at the same time studying the situations with a view to arriving at the most suitable solution, there are indications that the regime of arbitrary fixing of fees by authorities of the institutions may give way to harmonised tuition fees for all federal universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education across the country. That means peace will soon return to troubled institutions of higher learning.
What more can be said of a man who many initially thought was inactive, but has within a very short time, caused far-reaching changes in the Ministry he was appointed to administer? Gainsayers are suddenly short of words, or are careful what to say or what not to say because the man is not through yet.
And because no one knows what is contained in the aces he is still holding close to his chest, Nigerians should expect more punches – soft or hard – but which will surely take the education sector some more inches close to where it ought to be.
Honourable Minister, sir, go on; dig deeper into the very fabric of this short-circuited system, you are likely to find the rot deeply embedded at the foundation of the only sector that supposed to define our essence, but have been battered by its unfriendly friends. Do more to save it or we will have no identity as a nation.
Benjamin, Ph.D can be reached at [email protected]