Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has said the current education backwardness in the northern part of the country was caused by people in the region.
The Minister stated this at the public presentation of Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) Book 1 series for Nigerian universities and a book in his honour on Tuesday in Abuja.
Adamu, who commended the National Universities Commission (NUC) for its drive in ensuring the springing up of more private universities in the country, said the Commission’s effort was paying off with the establishment of more institutions in Northern Nigeria in recent times.
The Minister said: “The North is in self-imposed educational backwardness because the interest of the North is Islam, and Islam is the greatest promulgator of knowledge.
“In 859 AD, one Fatima Al-Fihri (sic), a woman-Muslim woman established the first university in the world, at the time, the Italian universities, Oxford, and Cambridge universities have not started, the first university still existing there, it is now in Morocco.
“About 100 years after that one, another university was established, the second university in the world before the universities of Europe, in Cairo and just like the first one, this university was established by a Muslim woman, Fatimatu Zahara (sic).
“So the first two universities in the world were established by Muslim women and here people are using Islam to keep women at home. I think it does not make sense.”
Adamu expressed delight that of the 37 new private universities approved by the Federal Executive Council on Monday, a large number of them are situated in the North.
Speaking on the CCMAS, the Minister said the new curriculum would go a long way in adding value to graduates being churned out from Nigerian universities.
