Governor Nasir El-Rufai has averred that the low cut-off marks needed for admission into northern universities via the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is making northern youths ‘lazy’.
The Kaduna state Governor who said this during the plenary session on “Rethinking Sub-National Competitiveness” at the ongoing Nigerian Economic Summit, stated that even though many think JAMB is building the nation with different cut-off mark for different states, they are however dividing it.
El-Rufai also rhetorically asked if the North has caught up with people from other regions even though JAMB is giving them lower cut-off marks.
He said;
“The northerners are at advantage. The low JAMB cut-off mark is making northern youth lazy rather than encouraging them. Despite the advantage of the education in Nigeria, we have the highest number of children out of school.
“For example, Joint Admissions Matriculation Board, (JAMB), gives different cut-off mark for different states and you say you are building a nation, no you are dividing it.
“I am from the north but we have suffered educational disadvantage and the JAMB has given us lower cut-off mark to catch up, have we caught up?
“It is making people lazy.”
On selecting leaders based on their ‘origin’, El-Rufai said;
“This has become a big problem for Nigeria. Zoning in political parties cannot solve the economic problems we are facing. Selecting the best person to get the job done will benefit everyone.
“The best we can do is to give everyone equal opportunity.”
The Kaduna state Governor also called for the federal police and judiciary to be reformed to improve their effectiveness.
He added;
“Implement state policing. Some governors have more influence on the police than others; state governors cannot control security actions except there is an order from the IGP. This makes state governors handicapped in serious matters.
“Same is applied to the judiciary system. We are the only country in the world that is running a federal judiciary system. This has exposed the sector to inefficiency. There are decisions for states to take for example, land issues, traditional issues.”
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