Following the recent sack of about 13 vice chancellors from the newly established federal universities and the appointment of new ones, the Coalition of Civil Society Group, on Wednesday, in Abuja, constituted an obstruction to movement at the entrance of the National Assembly and the Ministry of Education.
The group protested over what it described as an illegal termination of the appointments of five of the vice chancellors whose tenures were yet to elapse.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, at the venue of the prostest, the president of the group, Etuk Bassey said the act was a breach of the provisions of the University Miscellaneous Provisions Act No. 11, 1993.
Etuk, who demanded the immediate sack of the Education Minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said five out of the 13 sacked VCs were yet to exhaust their tenures, and as such, declared that they should be reinstated.
The civil society president, who also accused the minister of tribalism in the appointment of the new VCs, described this as an aberration to the Federal Character Act.
“Among the new vice chancellors, four professors are from Bayero University, Kano, two from UNIJOS, two from ABU and the rest are from Port-Harcourt, Owerri, Lafia, Kashere and Dutse, respectively, while the newly appointed chairperson of the University Governing Council including the vice chancellor are from Kano State.
“Is this not a clear violation of the Federal Character principle meant to engender unity in the country?,” he queried.
However, the protesters were denied access into the National Assembly by security operatives even as they waited endlessly to be addressed by relevant persons who never showed up.
The group carried placards with inscriptions like “Mallam Adamu Adamu must go now”, “Professors demand respect not embarrassment”, Mr President call your Minister of Education to order”, “We want due process in the education sector”, “Reinstate sacked chancellors now”, among others.
