A 15-year-old Senior Secondary School student, Chinaemere Opara, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Ministry of Education, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Universities Commission (NUC) over the introduction of the new admission policy.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, had in July announced that beginning from 2025, candidates under 18 years old would not be allowed to sit for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination or be offered admission into any Nigeria tertiary institution.
The announcement which sparked debate among students and parents, forced the minister to declare 16 years as the admission age into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Chinaemere who is SS2 student of Sure Start Secondary School, filed the suit through his father who is also a Lawyer, Maxwell Opara, at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the originating motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1512/2024 dated September 30 and filed October 14 by Wayne Elijah.
Chinaemere listed the ministry, JAMB and NUC as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.
The plaintiff sought a declaration that the federal government’s minimum age for admission policy to restrict the age of Nigerian citizens for admission into universities in the country is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
He also declared that the policy is a violation of his right to freedom of expression as guaranteed under Sections 42 of the 1999 Constitution, 2011 (as amended) and Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 13(2), 17 and 28 of the African Charter on Human and People Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 Vol. 1 LFN.
The SS2 student urged the court to declare that his right to peaceful assembly and association cannot be limited by the respondents’ admission policy.
He added that the policy restricts his age before exercising his right of association and self-determination as to when to enroll and write the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and/or JAMB exams is an infringement on his right of equal access to public service.
He cited this under Article 13(2) and (3) of the African Charter on Human and People Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 Vol. 1 LFN.
Chinaemere also sought an order setting aside the policy, and an order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents, from attempting to disturb, breach or interfere with his rights.
In the affidavit deposed by the complainant’s father, Maxwell, he confirmed that Chinaemere is an SS2 student of Sure Start Secondary School who is directly affected by the respondents’ minimum age for admission policy.
Maxwell expressed that the policy had impeded on Chinaemere’s right to freedom from age discrimination and education as enshrined in the law.
“Read from the online newspaper that the 1s respondent stated that there’s no going back on the implementation of his policy which stated that any person below 16 years would not be qualified to get admission in the university, no matter how brilliant the person is.
“That since then, the applicant believes that his right to education has been or likely to be violated.
“That the applicant would enter SS 3 in this 2024/2025 academic session with his plan/arrangements of writing his WAEC, NECO AND JAMB in 2025 with his expectations of gaining admission in 2025/2026 university academic sessions.
“That I know as of facts that in Nigeria, there is no specific age limit for gaining admission into universities.
“However, candidates typically must have completed their secondary education and sit for WASSCE or its equivalent.
“That I know as of facts that in Nigeria, most universities in Nigeria require candidates to meet certain academic qualifications, such as having a minimum number of credits in relevant subjects and passing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
“That I know as of facts that in Nigeria, there is no federal or state law making age a barrier for the applicant to gain admission.
“That the applicant strongly believes that he will perform excellently and make good grades in all the subjects that will be required for him to gain admission.
“That the applicant wants to study Medicine & Surgery whose duration is 6 years, along with a mandatory 1-year youth service and 1-year compulsory medical externship totaling all 8 years,” Maxwell said.
As of the time of filing this report, the suit is yet to be assigned to a judge
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