What will you do about age limits for university admission and student welfare and funding?

Q30: Many intelligent students cannot afford university or even remain in school because their families are poor. What financial support will your government provide? Answer: My administration will provide non-repayable scholarships, grants, and bursaries instead of forcing students into debt, while forgiving existing student loan obligations and directly reducing university tuition costs for low-income families.

Recent developments in the country has seen a growing tendency of state governments exerting influence in distorting the modalities of enthroning traditional stools. It is a reality that stares us in the face from every corner of the country. While it is understandable that the institutions of traditional rulership is in the exclusive purview of the state government, although through the local government authorities, it must be established that traditional institutions constitute a component of our governance structure. And thus, traditional institutions must be protected from the arbitrariness of state governments that threaten their stability. When the structure of ascension of traditional rulers is unstable, it will become equally difficult to maintain peace and orderliness in communities. Although our constitution, in its current format, does not ascribe any recognition to traditional institutions, yet our experiences show clearly that they perform enormous roles in the economic life of their domains, as well as maintenance of peace and security in communities.

I wish to remind that the traditional institutions formed the governance structures before the advent of the colonialists. And they governed well. Consequently, they are institutions we must protect and preserve and not destroy. It is, therefore, on this basis that I lean towards the advocacy that calls for constitutional reform that will not just recognize traditional institutions in our body of laws but also define the responsibilities of their offices. This reform is even more important in view of the collective drive to stem the ugly tide of terrorism and sundry security challenges at the local levels. In conclusion, I must also appeal to state governors to accord the necessary respect to the offices of traditional institutions. The customs that our traditional rulers represent is the totality of our heritage as a people. -AA

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 pratising, 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. Therefore, it is extra-constitutional for the federal government to legislate on education in a manner similar to 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 for 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. -AA

SPECIFIC MEASURES We would have undertaken extensive reforms of the public sector institutions to maximize reform impact. We would have placed special focus on security viz: •Commenced on day one, the reform of security institutions with improved funding, and enhanced welfare. My Policy Document had spelt out a Special Presidential Welfare Initiative for security personnel that we would implement •Adopted alternative approaches to conflict resolution such as diplomacy, intelligence, improved border control, deploying traditional institutions, and good neighbourliness. We would have launched an Economic Stimulus Fund (ESF), with an initial investment capacity of approximately US$10 billion to support MSMEs across all economic sectors. How would this have been funded? Details are in my Policy Document. Alongside the ESF, we would have launched a uniquely designed skills-to-job programme that targets all categories of youth, including graduates, early school leavers as well as the massive numbers of uneducated youth who are currently not in education, employment, or training.