Chief Nyesom Wike, legal practitioner, politician and public administrator, is part of the team saddled with the Herculean task of repositioning Nigeria's education sector, as the Minister of State for Education. Unlike a core civil servant, Wike believes in achieving results without undue protocols.
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According to him, Nigerians are in a hurry to see a change and are not interested in excuses as long as there are challenges capable of drawing back the education system, which holds the key to the nation's socio-economic advancement.
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In this interview, Wike speaks on what the Federal Government has so far achieved, what it is doing to lift the education sector, meet the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs', targets and make Nigeria proud in the comity of nations. Excerpts:
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How far is it true that the Federal Government has scrapped JAMB and NECO?
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This government has not scrapped any of those institutions. It is true that a committee was raised by government headed by the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Steve Orosanya, to look into the number of agencies and departments in the country and to recommend ways of saving costs.
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That committee made some recommendations to government, which, in turn, set up another panel to write a White Paper on it. As we speak, the White Paper Committee is yet to issue its recommendations to government and I do not know where people are getting the rumours they are spreading across the country, causing apprehension in the process.
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How do people jump into conclusion? Probably somebody might have discussed an opinion and somebody might have said,' look, this is what I would have done if I were on the committee', and somebody takes that as government position.
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Even assuming that it happens the way people are suggesting, will that reduce the number of intake into universities? As far as I know, it is not the number of exams you write that increases the number of intake, but the facilities that the institutions have on ground.
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For example, if a university is supposed to admit one thousand students for a particular year, that is just what it can take and not the number of people who might have written and passed JAMB. No. So, it is not like if JAMB conducts exams, people would have more access to university education in Nigeria. Or that people would not have access to universities if it no longer conducts the examinations.
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We know that the National Examinations Council, NECO, came in to check the monopoly that the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, was enjoying. If it is cancelled, Nigerians will return to the dark days. What do you say about that?
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I have told you government is yet to take a position on any of these education agencies. People may be expressing their own opinions. The committee that was set up by government will take a final decision on whether NECO will remain or not. Until that is done, the body remains.
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The White Paper Committee may make recommendations to government, which may be accepted or not. Government will not scrap NECO if it thinks it will not be in the interest of Nigerians.
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What is paramount is that government will take a decision that will be in the best interest of the people and not based on what some groups or segments would write about to win sentiment
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What has the government done to bridge the gap between degree and HND holders?
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Is the problem of this country the dichotomy between HND and first degree? Why are we always placing emphasis on something that will not help us? That has to do with the labour market and not the Ministry of Education. The Federal Civil Service Commission that deals with the appointment and promotion of officers should be in a better position to shed light on that matter.
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Ours is to make sure that Nigerians get quality education so that they can compete globally. I think we should concentrate more on what will make this country great and for our graduates to be able to compete effectively with others from other parts of the world instead of dwelling on what does not give us advantage in any way.
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There has been pressure on government to bring the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, and the National Universities Commission, NUC, under one umbrella for effective monitoring and supervision of our tertiary institutions. Is there any plan to merge them?
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Let me say that government does not intend to do a thing like that because these bodies have their statutory roles to play in the advancement of education. I will never be in support of that; rather we should be encouraging more polytechnics in order to be able to produce skilled manpower for this country.