Sacked Education Minister Says She’s Going Back To Her Lecturing Job

Sacked Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, who was just relieved of her position by President Goodluck Jonathan in a cabinet reshuffle yesterday, has said she would go back to the university to teach.
The minister, who handed over the affairs of the Ministry of Education to the Minister of State in the ministry, Chief Nyesom Wike, as directed by the president, told journalists that she would be going back to continue with her job as a teacher.
Before her appointment as a minister, Rufa’i was a professor of Curriculum Studies at the Bayero University, Kano.
“I called you here to witness the handing over because as you are all aware, my tenure as minister has expired along with eight others.
“I am going back to resume my job as a Professor of Curriculum Studies at the Bayero University Kano, that is where I came from on secondment.
“We should know that a time like this will come because if it does not, death is surely an end,”
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Rufa’i expressed gratitude to the president for the opportunity given her to serve as a cabinet minister.

“I have enjoyed a close working relationship with the president.
“Of course, there were times we had our disagreements, but overall we enjoyed working together,” she added.
Rufa’i also thanked the former Minister of State for Education who succeeded her Nyesom Wike and other officials of the ministry for the support she enjoyed during her tenure in the ministry, and tasked them not to relent in achieving the sector’s goal of Access and Quality.
In his remarks, Wike described Rufa’i’s exit as ”painful” but said “when we are not in control, there is nothing we can do.”
He said because of the cordial working relations between them, the two had never been summoned by the president to define their roles. He also thanked the former minister for her good leadership.
“I, therefore, implore you, please do not abandon the ministry, continue to give us the advice you would have been giving if you were here,” he said.