The recent statement credited to Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, that tertiary institutions should not offer admission to applicants who haven’t reached 18 is a retrogressive policy; it is capable of demoralising some of the extraordinary brilliant students who in their 14 or 15 years can excellently pass the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Sadly, some of the individuals responsible for setting the minimum age requirement for university education opt to send their children to prestigious foreign higher institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, when their children, who are under 16, successfully complete their secondary school examinations.
The statement made by Mamman, a distinguished scholar and former Vice-Chancellor of a university, regarding the excessive pressure parents put on their children to meet unrealistic minimum age requirements for university admission, sheds light on the absurdity and disgrace of Nigeria’s education system.
And we will provide examples to illustrate why those advocating for the outdated minimum age policy should recognize the transition from the admission policies of the 1960s to the current digital era.
In 2021, a 17-year-old Nigerian adolescent, Victory Yinka-Banjo, was awarded 19 full scholarships for her undergraduate studies valued at $5,000,000 USD from prestigious higher education institutions such as Yale College, Princeton University, and Harvard College, in recognition of her exceptional academic achievements.
The young girl had earlier scored As in her West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2020, when she was just 16 years old. She would have applied to any of Nigerian universities at that age if she wanted to study in Nigeria.
Would the Education Minister of Nigeria, Prof. Mamman, advocate for the exclusion of a gifted student like Victory from university admission on the grounds of her age being under 18?
In April 2024, another 17-year-old Nigerian boy, Femi Ositade, secured 14 full scholarships to study in foreign universities, most of which are Ivy League Universities, including Harvard.
During the 2023 UTME, he scored 358, which made him the second-best in Nigeria for the year. Prior to UTME, the young Ositade, a student at The Ambassadors College, Ota, Ogun State, garnered eight As and one B in his WASSCE.
The young boy who disclosed that he planned to study Computational Physics also represented his school in national and international competition. He achieved all the academic feats even before reaching 17.
There is also a 9-year-old prodigy named Basil Okpara Jr., who had developed 30 mobile games by 2019. The examples are too numerous to enumerate. We must not allow this regressive policy to hinder the progress of these exceptional students.
We acknowledge some of the apprehensions raised by the education minister when he highlighted the potential challenges faced by students at a tender age in effectively managing their affairs “upon transitioning from a structured to an unstructured environment.”
But the challenges plaguing the university system are far greater than just the age requirement for university admission. For example, the government has consistently failed to uphold the commitments it made to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) since 2009.
The Minister of Education, a legal expert, should endeavor to urge the administration led by Bola Tinubu to honor the FG/ASUU 2009 agreement in order to prevent the imminent protests and potential strike actions by academics nationwide.
In the United States, there is no age constraint when applying to college; rather, the academic performance of applicants holds paramount importance.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom, students are not discouraged from pursuing their academic aspirations due to their age; students under the age of 16 simply require written permission from their parents or legal guardians.
These are some of the progressive educational policies that Professor Mamman, a distinguished legal scholar, should advocate for. If the governing All Progressive Congress (APC) truly aligns with the label of progressives, their policies ought to embody their ideological stance..
The world has gone beyond limiting university admission for students. Brilliant students should not be demoralized. They need the support of the government through an enabling education policy to thrive.
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