By Felix Khanoba
A non-governmental organisation, Concerned Literacy Vanguard (CLV) has blamed the poor management style in the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC) for the worsening cases of adult illiteracy in the country.
The group, in a statement issued in Abuja by its General Secretary, Hameed Hassan, also said the maladministration in NMEC has not also helped the battle against out-of-school children in Nigeria.
It expressed concern that few months to the end of the tenure in office, the Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Haladu is seeking for an extension of another five years without proper accountability of his stewardship to Nigerians.
He noted that NMEC has abandoned its core mandate and vision of eradicating illiteracy for national development for the last five years and therefore demand for a change in its leadership in order to allow for meaningful development in the sub-sector.
The secretary stressed that NMEC has stopped its networking platforms of mobilizing stakeholders and state governments to enhance their participation in adult education that would have further contribute to the eradication of illiteracy, adding that the Commission appears going against the financial rules and guidelines of the federal government, even after approvals has been given by the National Assembly on particular projects.
He further frowned at the construction of non- functional state offices and awarding contracts to friends and cronies without recourse to its own guidelines and warned that an extension of the Executive Secretary’s tenure of office for another four years would portends doom for adult education in the country.
