Rufa’i: I am Going Back to University to Teach

Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, who was among
the nine ministers relieved of their positions
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, who also thanked Wike and other
officials of the ministry for the support she
enjoyed during her tenure in the ministry,
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.
Wike 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
Also in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary
in the ministry, Dr. McJohn Nwaobiala, said
the change was ”like being hit by a
thunderbolt”.
Nwaobiala, who described Rufa’i as totally
different, pledged that the ministry would
build on the foundation she had laid.