Atiku Criticizes Fg’s 18-Year Age Restriction for NECO, WASSCE

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has criticized the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government for the 18-year age limit on National Examinations Council, NECO, and West African Examinations Council, WAEC, exams.

Atiku decried the policy, saying it’s absurd and a barrier to scholarships.

The Federal Government had recently banned individuals below 18 from participating in the NECO and WAEC exams.

Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, had revealed this during his appearance on Channels Television’s ‘ Sunday Politics’ programmme.

Mamman explained that the Federal Government had instructed WAEC, responsible for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, and NECO, which administers the Senior School Certificate Examination, to enforce the 18-year age requirement for candidates taking these exams.

Responding, the former Vice President, who took to his verified X formerly Twitter on Wednesday deployed the policy as outdated.

He labelled the policy as controversial, calling for universal condemnation from those who value intellectual freedom and accessibility.

Atiku stated, “Tinubu’s policy on age limit for tertiary education admission belongs in the Stone Ages.

“The recent policy of the Federal Ministry of Education pegging age limits for entry to tertiary institutions is an absurdity and a disincentive to scholarship.

“The policy runs foul of the notion of delineation of responsibilities in a federal system of government such as we are practising, 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 puts education in the concurrent list of schedules, in which the sub-national government enjoys more roles above the Federal Government.”

He noted that the most effective global approach is to allow sub-national governments to establish their education laws or regulations.

Atiku added, “Therefore, it is extra-constitutional for the federal government to legislate on education like a decree.

“The best global standard for such regulation is to allow the 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 to 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 not minding 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.”