FG Proposes to Remove Education from Control of States, Concurrent List

FG Proposes to Remove Education from Control of States, Concurrent List

The federal government is considering and making proposals for the removal of education from concurrent legislative list and place it on the exclusive list in order to provide focus and centralised administration of education in the country.

Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Anwukah, gave this hint on Wednesday in Abuja during a send-forth reception organised in honour of the immediate past Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie.

Anwukah, who admitted that there were a lot of problems facing the education sector in Nigeria, noted that some of the problems could easily be overcome if the affairs of the sector is centrally run. He argued that education, just military, is critical to the nation and must not be left at the whims and caprices of the state governments.

The development is coming in spite of recent calls by many Nigerians for devolution of power from the federal to states with the minister insisting that education is a federal project.   

He said: "We have a lot of problems facing education sector in this country. Over the last two weeks, I have been pondering on a particular idea, whether as a country, we can continue putting education on the Concurrent list.

"It is coming to a stage where we have to brace up to the fact that education is a federal project and can no longer be left at the whims and caprices of the states. Like, military and others that are federal projects, this country would brace up to the fact that education must be centrally run by the federal government and no longer run by the various states.

"I'm going to discuss this idea further with stakeholders. Education must cease to be on the Concurrent list and be a concern to the people.”

The minister described Professor Okojie as his very good friend but often times had to disagree in order to agree on certain issues pertaining areas of his jurisdiction.

Okojie, in his remark, asked his successor, Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, to be courageous, saying the task of Executive Secretary of NUC was a difficult one in view of the happenings in the tertiary education sector in Nigeria.