She went on to have a brilliant career and remains the only African to get to the position of vice president in the multinational company where she worked until she retired. She is happily married with children doing great in their various endeavours. Like their mother, these children graduated between 20 and 21 years depending on the courses they studied, but they entered the university at 16 to 17.

I know some other students who entered the university at age 16-17. Some rose to become CEOs of financial institutions and manufacturing companies. Some set up businesses with billions of naira in turnover.

My reaction to the minister’s pronouncement is based on my personal experience in the last 40 years (1984 to 2024). First, let me acknowledge my ignorance of the stipulation of 18 years as the minimum age of entry into Nigerian universities based on the 6-3-3-4. I am ignorant of it because it was never implemented. But even with 6-3-3-4, it is still possible to graduate before 22 years. I know many students who graduated at 20 years since the 6-3-3-4 system of education started.

They are doing great in their various endeavours, which calls to question if the policy was well thought out ab initio. Some of these graduates who left school at 20 got jobs where older applicants failed. One of such who graduated at 20 got employed by the company where he did youth service because he was too good to be let go. Truth be told, the 6-3-3-4 system never achieved some of its goals. For instance, we were told then that students who drop out of school after junior or secondary school would have been equipped with technical skills to earn a living, but that has not been the case.