As the new Minister of Education, Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, settles down to business of managing the sector, stakeholders have welcomed his appointment while also setting agenda for him and the two ministers of state for Education on how to tackle the numerous problems facing the sector.

The stakeholders told Daily Sun, in separate interviews, of their expectations from the three ministers and pointed out areas they would want them to concentrate such as adequate funding, provision of facilities, better welfare package, implementation of policies, tackling of the rot, and meeting the demands of the various unions in the education sector.

Professor Ademola Onifade of Faculty of Education, Lagos State University (LASU), welcomed the new minister to his assignment but stressed that without any doubt the task ahead of him is daunting and he should focus on the three tiers of education.

On primary education, he told Daily Sun that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu “must expend much energy at this level being the foundation. Once the foundation is well laid, all other levels will fall neatly into place. Much money needs to be pumped into this level to improve infrastructure, provide teaching materials and motivate teachers through adequate welfare package. The state’s SUBEB boards should be chaired by persons with academic and professional background to improve the standard of primary education since the position is an executive one.”

According to him, like the primary school level, funds must be injected into the secondary education sub-sector, adding that the country could still maintain the Junior and Senior Secondary tiers, stressing: “The advanced level programme should be re-introduced. Apart from ensuring the academic maturity of the students before entering the university, it will also provide an alternative route for students who do not pass UME. They will not need to roam the streets any more.”

For the tertiary level, Professor Onifade reminded the education minister that university education in Nigeria needs special and huge funding while acknowledging that the system was almost grounded because of obsolete infrastructure, brain-drain, inadequate facilities and equipment.

His words: “The new minister must be aggressive and determined to stop the wastages in education. A lot of funds that should hitherto be used in improving education in Nigeria go into private pockets.”

In his own contribution, the National President of Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), Alhaji Ganiyu Akinleye, told Daily Sun that the minister should call for new education summit, not education jamboree for the purpose of coming up with a proper education reform radically different from the one organized by the former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili.

He said the summit should be organized at the different tertiary levels of university, polytechnic and college of education as well as the secondary and primary levels while a committee should be empowered to study the communiqué, synthesize them to come up with a blue-print for education policy for the country.

Akinleye stated that government should not be in a hurry to merge polytechnics and converting them to “campuses of proximate universities”, rather the National Assembly should pass the appropriate law converting the two old polytechnics into universities.

The SSANIP president said the report of the Presidential Technical Committee for the Consolidation of Federal Tertiary Institutions should be revisited with a view to taking a position that would recognize the relevance of National Diploma Certificate in the scheme of things in the country as it relates to the technological development and middle level manpower requirement and need of the country.

The proprietor of Grace International College, Ibadan, Mr. Lucas Adekunle, told Daily Sun on phone that the education minister must, as a matter of urgency, summon a summit of stakeholders which should include private school operators to address the various problems facing the sector and that the recommendations would enable him to formulate a policy that would revamp the education sector to produce better result.

Adekunle called on the minister to carry along private school owners when introducing new policy, check the rot in public schools, provide good welfare for teachers, put an end to strikes in the sector and revisit the education reform of the past minister, which generated controversy from some stakeholders.

The Yaba College of Technology Students Union President, Comrade Adesanya Yusuf Tunde, asked the new minister to note that education lays the foundation for the development of manpower in Nigeria and should be well managed to boost the sector, which, he said, was in distress.

“The new education minister needs to focus on three key things which are human resources, financial resources and strategic resources. Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should pay attention to funds released for educational purposes to ensure their usage. The sector is suffering from lack of new initiatives to boost education, he should ensure proper planning of policies before its implementation and should convoke an education forum made up of stakeholders to tackle issues affecting education in the country,” he stressed.

On conversion of YABATECH to a university status, he explained that students and other stakeholders of the institution expect the new minister to actualize the transformation through the enactment of the necessary law, adding that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should ensure the implementation affects the current students.

Also speaking, the President of Junior Chamber International Nigeria, YABATECH chapter, JC Ligali Ibraheem Oluwatosin, stressed that the president did not consider the interest of stakeholders before the appointment of the education minister and that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should pay attention to primary, secondary and tertiary education. He said the minister has to know the needs of the people to ensure quality service delivery.

Oluwatosin said: “One of the things I want him to do is to look at the needs of the institutions in the country because the schools lack the necessary facilities to impart knowledge to students. He should set up a committee to visit these institutions to assess their needs before implementations.”

The President of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana, told Daily Sun that the new minister must ensure that the nation’s schools function and they must be well funded. The government must equip conditions of service of lecturers/teachers. The minister should ensure institutions get modern books. Nigeria has enough money to revamp education and ensure quality service delivery,” the human rights activist stressed.

A parent with three kids in public institutions, Mr. Matthew Nnaji, told Daily Sun that Dr Aja-Nwachukwu should revamp the public education which, he said, is in shambles and must carry parents along when churning out policies as well as check the incessant strikes in public schools by meeting the needs of the lecturers.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), LASU chapter chairman, Mr.Aloy Ihuah, told Daily Sun that Dr. Aja-Nwachukwu should not recognise or implement the policy of the past administration on education particularly the reform programme which he described as anti-people meant to degrade the masses and give education to the rich, stressing that under the Obasanjo government education was not for the poor.

He enjoined the new minister to take a second look at the previous administration’s claim on secondary education (Unity Schools) being defective and the rushed reform programme to hand over the Federal Government colleges to rich individuals.

According to him, the minister must ensure adequate funding of the system to attract foreign lecturers as it obtains in the 70s and eary 80s, ensure Nigerian universities are rated among the best in the world by strengthening the teaching, reseach capacity and international recognition as well as use his good offices to ensure the sacked University of Ilorin lecturers were reinstated.