Education ministers at war over appointments, fees hike

The raging cold war be­tween the Minister of Education, Malam Ada­mu Adamu, and the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Antho­ny Anwukah, came to the lime­light again on Tuesday as the two ministers bickered over the recent hike in the fees of Unity Colleges.

Adamu accused Anwukah of unilaterally increasing the fees of Federal Government Colleges (Unity Schools) – in addition to several other alleged infractions.

Indeed, Adamu and Anwu­kah have not seen eye to eye since the appointment of the heads of 17 agencies in the Federal Min­istry of Education.

In a chat with journalists in Abuja on the sidelines of the Na­tional Education Quality Assur­ance Handbook’s launch, Adamu said the news of the increment of fees from N20,000 to N75,000 was strange to him.

He said: “I am not aware that the Unity Schools’ fees have been increased. As the Minister of Ed­ucation I am not aware but I will try and find out.”

Responding to the alleged feud between him and Anwu­kah over the recent appoint­ment of the new heads of 17 agencies in the ministry, in which the Minister of State was allegedly side-lined, Ad­amu feigned ignorance of the development.

However, he admitted to have mistakenly failed to ac­knowledge the presence of Anwukah’s representative during the launch of the hand­books yesterday.

“I am not also aware that he has been side-lined but you can go and find out from the source that told you,” Adamu stated.

Speaking on the Unity Schools’ fees, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Fo­lasade Yemi-Esan, admitted that the Federal Government had hiked the fees.

She said that the incre­ment, which was focused on boarding fees, was to cover the cost of running the schools.

Yemi-Esan said: “The school fees of the Federal Government Colleges have been increased but not up to the 300 percent as being claimed. You must be aware of the reality in the country.

“It is important for the Federal Government Colleges to maintain the students that are there and you must also be aware that these schools are tuition-free. What has been increased is the boarding fees but is not up to N75,000,” she added.

But she denied knowledge of any feud between the two education ministers.

The AUTHORITY re­calls that Prof. Anwukah has been shunning events that at­tract the presence of Adamu, which a source blamed on the way he was side-lined on the recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari on the appointment of heads of the education agencies.

Apparently to show his grievances, Anwukah alleged­ly shunned the inauguration of the new chief executives. He was also absent during the flag-off of the 2016 Teachers’ Professional Development in Abuja last week.