13 Sacked Vice Chancellors: Protesters storm National Assembly and Ministry of Education.

The sacking of the Vice Chancellors and their replacement with people mostly from North according to the Chairman of the Coalition of Civil Society Groups,Bassey Williams Etuk violated the federal character principles. The Coalition of Civil Society Groups on Wednesday shut down the entrance of the National Assembly and Ministry of Education in Abuja protesting against the sacking of thirteen (13)Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. The sacking was described as illegal by the protesters. The Chairman of the coalition, Etuk, called on President Muhammed Buhari to relieve the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, of his appointment because he knows nothing. The sacking of the VCs and their replacement with people mostly from the North violated the North violated the federal character principles says Etuk. From Bayero University, alone six Professors were taken as replacement. They chanted solidarity songs, including: Adamu must go, reinstate the sacked VCs now and Nigeria needs a better administrator in the Education Ministry. A petition to the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, was received on behalf by the National Assembly Deputy Sergeant -At -Arms, Dennis Maaji. The Minister was given 48 hours to reverse the sack and resign his appointment because he doesn't seem to understand the working of University system and administration. Etuk said, The Minister does not have any right to call for sack of 13 VCs. According to him, nine of the 13 sacked Vice Chancellors, their tenure was to expire this last Monday, February 15, 2015. But 4, still have their tenure running. What he did, which is most disrespectful to the law of the land, is the appointment of six of his friends from one university. Six professors from one university and posted them to different tertiary institutions. Not only that, he also appointed two professors from Katsina State, making it eight friends from just two states in North. We came here to tell him Nigeria is not a sectional country. We are one indivisible Nigeria, nobody should seperate us. Nobody should play sentiments with our economy and education sectors.... Etuk said. The coalition also threatens to go to court to stop the sack as the tenure of five were yet to expire.