The Bola Tinubu-led government has continued its wave of controversial decision-making that experts and citizens alike have expressed concerns over.
It is not the best time to be a Nigerian younger than 18, as the government has decided this demography is too young to seek tertiary education in the country, legally.
During a Sunday night interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, said the government would enforce a ban on minors taking the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE).
Mamman’s revelation was not entirely new as the government had earlier attempted to prevent them from participating in the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), but backtracked after public backlash.
This withdrawal was only temporary, though. While the government let its young population participate in the recent exercise, Mamman has made it clear the National Examinations Council (NECO) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC) will not register anyone below 18 for future examinations as the government would deem them too young to apply.
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Meanwhile, the development comes at around the same period the Abuja Federal High Court granted the Nigeria Police Force’s motion to remand no fewer than 22 minors in federal custody for 60 days. The police accused them and 53 others of participating in a ploy to overthrow the government under the guise of the #EndBadGovernance protest.
The police approached the court on August 8, and if they keep the detainees for the full length of time the warrant affords them, those children may only get the opportunity to exercise their freedom of movement from October 8. FIJ found that, in Abuja, the police detained the minors in cells which also housed adults.
Denying 15, 16 and 17-year-olds an opportunity to school is argued as being in adherence to the original architecture of Nigeria’s 6-3-3-4 education system. Mamman said during the interview on Sunday that he expects children to get into Basic 1 when they clock five.
“If you compute the number of years pupils, and learners are supposed to be in school, the number you will end up with is 17 and a half – from early child care to primary school to junior secondary school and then senior secondary school. You will end up with 17 and a half by the time they are ready for admission,” he said.
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He also argued that any admission-seeker younger than this would be one who skipped a process and is unprepared for what tertiary institutions have to offer.
Already, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has condemned the government’s decision.
Mike Ene, the Secretary-General of the NUT, told PUNCH that the government’s decision did not consider current economic realities.
He said, “The only way this policy could work is if it’s implemented from the foundation. By that, I mean starting at the primary school level. In the past, before a child was allowed to start school, they had to pass a basic test — like reaching their hand over their head to touch the opposite ear. If they couldn’t, they were sent back home.
“However, things have changed. Nowadays, due to economic pressures, parents enrol their children in crèches early, which means both parents have to work.”
Although several stakeholders fault the move, the government is intent on implementing it.
This policy would exist at the same time the country embraces child marriages too. So, while a child cannot vote or attend a university, they can get married to adults and end up in jail with them — in Nigeria.
The post In Nigeria, Children Can Be Legally Jailed With Adults, but Are Too Young to School With Them appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.