Mamman, Ohanenye’s Many Controversies

Ejiofor Alike reports that while the five ministers discharged by President Bola Tinubu were allegedly non-performing cabinet members, the cases of the former Minister of Education,  Tahir Mamman and his counterpart in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Uju-Ken Ohanenye were worsened by the unnecessary controversies they courted for Tinubu’s administration

Many Nigerians who had watched the actions of the former Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Uju-Ken Ohanenye had known that their discharge from the cabinet of President Bola Tinubu was a matter of time.

In what was described as discriminatory action intended to drag education backward in certain parts of the country, Mamman’s education ministry had banned 18 foreign universities operating in Nigeria, and also announced the suspension of evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from the Republic of Benin and Togo.

The directive also affected five universities from the United States, six from the United Kingdom, and three Ghanaian tertiary institutions.

A Port Harcourt-based popular pastor, who had committed millions of naira in providing scholarships for indigent Nigerian students in most of these universities was seen in a viral video lamenting this ill-thought-out action, which sent thousands of Nigerian students out of school.   

The pastor had claimed that before he sponsored students in those universities, he had sought and received the assurances of the Federal Ministry of Education that the schools were recognised by the Nigerian government.

The education ministry’s alleged U-turn was said to have led to a diplomatic rift between Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Togo.

Thousands of Nigerian graduates from Benin and Togo were also denied participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), while undergraduates in the affected universities were stranded.

As if the damage inflicted on young Nigerians by this decision was not enough, Mamman announced that the federal government had approved the dismissal of workers in the public and private sectors who used certificates obtained from Benin Republic and Togo to gain employment.

Though the ministry had claimed that the move was to sanitise the education sector, this thoughtless blanket ban was due to an offence committed by one university, Beninese University.

A report published by a national newspaper had exposed how some officials of the Beninese University produced fake university degrees for a fee.

The leaders of the Coalition of Stakeholders in Education in the Republic of Benin – Dr Shittu Sanny, Gabriel Kona, Abiola Daramola, and Hodonou Nohunun – had criticised Mamman’s announcement, and described the invalidation of these certificates retroactively as unjustifiable.

The stakeholders had urged the federal government to focus on sanctioning individuals who attended unaccredited institutions or obtained their certificates through dubious means, rather than penalising all graduates from these countries.

Again, Mamman had while monitoring the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Bwari, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in March, insisted that “the minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15, 16 years going in for the entrance examination.”

Many Nigerians had described his pronouncement as curious as no previous government had ever enforced the 18 years age limit.

But speaking at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) 2024 policy meeting in July, Mamman insisted on the 18 years age limit for admission into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, with effect from 2024.

When his pronouncement was greeted with shouts of “no, no” by the crowd of education stakeholders, he gave one year of grace for it to take effect from 2025.

Many analysts had alleged that preventing young Nigerians who concluded secondary school at the ages between 15 and 17 from gaining admission into the universities was a deliberate agenda to create out-of-school children in certain parts of the country.

The former minister later announced that WAEC, which administers the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and NECO, which organises the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) would no longer allow underage students to be eligible for the two examinations.

But following the backlash, the former minister of state in the ministry, Yusuf Sununu, claimed that Mamman was quoted out of context and that he only meant that the 6-3-3-4 system should strictly be implemented.

However, elementary mathematics shows that a strict implementation of this outdated system of education will result in a child not writing WAEC and NECO until at the age of 18 years.

Deputy National President of National Parents/ Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, had threatened a court action, alleging that “the minister wants to draw education backward in the country.”

While former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, said the age-limit policy was archaic, and “belongs in the Stone Ages,” the Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUA), Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), said it violated the autonomy of the universities.

Reacting to Mamman’s removal as minister, the coordinator of a non-government organisation, Education for Accelerated Development (EDAD), Dr. Livinus Mbaonu, commended Tinubu, alleging that the former minister was on a mission to reverse the gains made in the education sector in recent times.

For Uju-Ken Ohanenye, her alleged sins were also many, with only a few related directly to the affairs of her ministry.

Addressing a press conference in October 2023, barely two months after her appointment, she had accused the United Nations (UN) of obtaining funds on behalf of the country without remitting them and threatened to sue the world body.

She had earlier provoked the ire of women in September 2023, when she insinuated that students were being used by some people to get the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Cyril Ndifon out of office, following an allegation of sexual harassment against him by female students.

She threatened the students with imprisonment, insisting that since the female students had admitted that they were not raped, it meant they were not sexually harassed.

But following a backlash, she tendered a public apology.

In May 2024, she filed a suit against the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, following his decision to marry off 100 orphans from his constituency.

Her lawsuit sparked outrage with Muslim leaders condemning her action.

In July, she engaged in a running battle with the House of Representatives’ Committee on Women’s Affairs and Social Development, which was investigating the alleged diversion of the N1.5billion meant for the payment of contractors who executed projects for the ministry.

In August, she disrupted two separate events because they were organised “without her permission” in Abuja.

She established a reputation as the most controversial minister.

A video clip of jubilation at the Ministry of Women Affairs had surfaced online immediately after her sack was announced.