Anger and complaints have continued to trail the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, the Anambra State capital. While some candidates collapsed amid the pushing and shoving that attended the exercise, many complained about the process, reports OKECHUKWU NNODIM.
They fumed with anger as they stood on long queues for hours. Some sat on the floor, looking forlorn. Others were dejected, bemoaning their fate in silence. Their woes were compounded by a downpour, which dampened their credentials and their clothes.
Some, who could endure the pushing and shoving, trudged on; others fainted and were taken to the hospital to receive treatment. Nonetheless, the majority fought on to achieve that which brought them to Awka, the Anambra State capital.
The foregoing aptly captured the conduct of the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), last week Monday, during which applicants were subjected to harsh treatment by the university.
According to a management source, about 34,000 candidates sat for the four-day entrance examination. It was the first time the university would be organising the exam via Computer-Based Test (CBT), but the applicants were not informed of the development.
In the advertorial placed in newspapers and the university’s website about the post-UTME, the school told the candidates to come with pencils and erasers. But, the candidates were shocked to know the exam would be CBT and would be held at the Prof. Festus Aghagbo Nwako Digital Library.
The applicants got another shocker when they learnt that they had 10 minutes to answer 20 questions. Some of the first applicants, who wrote the test, complained about network hitches that made them unable to answer any question within the given time.
As the applicants moved in for the test in batches, there was a downpour. But, this did not reduce the surging crowd at the CBT centre. Applicants stood under the rain for hours, with no shelter.
Personal effects of the candidates after the stampede
Amid the confusion, five candidates slumped and were rushed to the university Medical Centre. A number of them were injured in a stampede. Many lost their personal effects, including documents, wallets, phones, watches and shoes.
An applicant, Emeka Okoro, described the situation as chaotic. His words: “I have heard so much about this institution and its humiliating treatment for admission seekers. Who can imagine we have been standing for hours under the rain? The process is too slow and the university management did not give it a thought to extend the exam period.”
Another candidate, Chekwube Eze, complained about the duration of the test. “I did not finish because of the time allotted to the exam,” she said.
An applicant, who simply gave his name as Chidiebere, said: “The computer was slow and before I could attempt the sixth question, I was logged out. It was a bad experience for me. I hope I would pass the exam.”
Some guardians, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, expressed worries over the conduct of the exercise. Mrs. Joy Okafor, a guardian, was angry at the crowd of applicants. She said: “This exercise is poorly organised. Look at the candidates, they are tired. They have stood here since morning and are being tossed around. How do you expect someone to write and pass an examination under these conditions? The university authority should brace up and address this issue.I am disappointed.”
A parent, Mr. Joe Orji, lamented the poor conduct of the test, saying: “How can a university, which has no adequate CBT facility, conduct a test for more than 20,000 applicants in four days? It is impossible. The school has subjected the applicants to a very inhumane treatment.”
After the fourth day, thousands of applicants were not able to write the test. They were asked to come the following day.
After the test, applicants took to the UNIZIK Facebook page to express their feelings. Some complained that the computer kept logging them out, while the time was not steady.
Some applicants, who applied for Law, complained about uniformity of questions.
Speaking to our reporter, Chukwuma Okeke (not real names), who wants to study Law, said he saw Mathematics and Biology questions.
Some complained they got more than one result, each bearing various scores. An applicant, who gave first name as Chris, said: “The computer sent three different results to my mobile phone. I got 60, 45 and 15. I am still confused as to which is my score.”
Reacting, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Joseph Ahaneku, said he monitored the exercise, adding that some of the applicants were not qualified. The VC lamented the lack of computer skill among the candidates, wondering how they passed above average in the UTME.
Prof Ahaneku said all qualified candidates would be given a chance to write the test.
The Director of Information and Public Relations, Dr Emmanuel Ojukwu, has released a statement to announce the extension of the examination.
He said the test was “hugely successful”, noting that the university had improved its crowd control ability. He added that some faceless persons wanted to undermine the process because of the strict measures put in place to checkmate impersonation.
He said: “Those who are opposed to the process put in place by the school were quick to criticise the university, forgetting that due process is an integral part of integrity. Those, who came from far places and did not have places to sleep, were graciously provided hostels on the order of the VC.”
Ojukwu dismissed the allegation that the tedious process led to the collapse of some candidates. He said: “Yes, some candidates had health challenges, which are unrelated to the screening. There was a case of an asthmatic patient, who did not come with her inhaler. She was successfully revived after she collapsed. There was also a pregnant lady, who showed sign of fatigue. She was assisted. So, there is no iota of truth in the allegation that the school humiliated anyone.”
The PRO said 135 impersonators were caught and were being questioned by security operatives. They will be charged to court soon, he said.
No fewer than 35,467 candidates are seeking admission into the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin for the 2015/2016 session.
However, a statement from the management indicated that only 4,380 candidates would be offered admission into ND and HND.
This is in accordance with the capacity of the institution as determined by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), which is the regulatory body for polytechnic and monotechnics in Nigeria.
The President of the Association of Proprietors of Innovation and Vocational Institutions (APIVI), Dr. Andrews Jegede has faulted views of those who oppose the new policy by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which seeks to redistribute successful candidates in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) whose scores are below the requirements of their universities of first choice to other universities whose requirements they met.
Jegede, who spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, explained that tertiary institutions in the country have turned post-UTME admission process into a money-making venture which they included as part of their major internally-generated revenue (IGR) drive.
Of late, criticisms have continued to trail the new admission policy of the examination body, as students and parents protested at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Explaining that the introduction of post-UTME as part of admission process by tertiary institutions had made the cost of tertiary admission highly exploitative and expensive at the expense of the poor Nigerian masses, he posited that “Nigeria is not the only country that has university admission regulatory body; it is in all over the world. Then, why should Nigerians interfere in the affairs of the country’s tertiary admission regulatory body saddled with the responsibility of conducting entrance examination for eligible candidates and place them into the university of their choices if he or she meets the university’s cut off mark?”
He commended the board’s Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde for the introduction of the computer-based test (CBT); saying that the measure had reduced examination malpractices in the system. He noted that the CBT had rendered the Post-UTME test unnecessary in the tertiary admission process.
His words: “Since the establishment of JAMB, there was never a time a decision was taken in isolation of other stakeholders in the system; the Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, rectors of polytechnics, Provosts of colleges of education and Heads of innovation institutions were always carried along. Before this became public, we all met at a roundtable in Abuja to take a decision on this year’s admission process.
“When JAMB released this year’s cut-off point for admission, every university has its in-house admission standard, and that any student whose score does not fall within a particular university pass mark, JAMB has the statutory right to send his particulars to another institution where he or she could be considered. It could be polytechnic, college of education or private institution. So, also the candidate has the right to accept it, or re-apply to another one he or she wants.”
He decried the protests, especially by the association of tutorial schools, saying that “what concerns tutorial centres with admission. These are people who would promise candidates high mark in examination in order to dupe them. If not that we waded in, many more people would have been victims. You cannot see any poster, promising candidate 320 over 400 in an examination that has not been done. If care is not taken, we will start buying admission from cybercafé.”
THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the University of Ibadan has kicked against the policy of reassignment of candidates against their choices being adopted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
It said JAMB has made the admission process chaotic and exposed candidates to fraudsters, adding that the board must respect candidates’ preferences and choices for tertiary institutions and consider the security of lives of candidates, cost, proximity, quality, and rights of the Nigerian child in arriving at any policy.
ASUU called on Nigerians to join in calling for the scrapping of JAMB, saying it has outlived its usefulness.
Its chairman, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, described the policy as insensitive, exploitative of the children of the poor and abuse of their fundamental human rights of freedom of choice.
The union lashed out at the Prof. Dibu Ojerinde-led JAMB Board for allegedly being insensitive to the plight of the masses, whose parents have not been paid for months by some governors, but are now being forced to pay N1,000 to know where they are reassigned against their choices.
In the absence of a substantive minister of Education, the ASUU boss called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call JAMB to order so as not to make the children of the masses in public schools suffer.
Calling on the President to probe the over N1 billion that would be generated from the purchase of scratch cards of what he called ‘unpopular policy’, Ajiboye berated the racket on the sale of scratch cards, which have been mopped up at JAMB offices by agents who now sell it for N1,500 to candidates.
But JAMB explained that the policy to redistribute candidates to needy institutions was done to assist the candidates and their parents.
It noted that the ASUU UI chapter’s claim that it was anti-poor was not untrue.
It described the union’s claim that it would make about N1 billion as proceeds from candidates buying cards to check their redistribution status as unfounded.
It said the checking of candidates’ names will be free.
The Registrar/Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Dibu Ojerinde, has reacted to the protest at the University of Lagos by parents and candidates who could not access the university’s admission.
According to him, the policy introduced by JAMB, for which he has been criticised, “is actually meant to help the candidates not only to get admission but to get it on time.”
Ojerinde explained that the decision to reallocate candidates who cannot be admitted into their choice institutions because of the high cut-off marks set by the institutions for the various courses, to other federal, states and private institutions in that order, depending on the availability of spaces; choice of the course of the candidate; geographical zone of the candidates’ first choice and the performance of the candidates, was to help the candidates and reduce the numbers of qualified candidates who miss out on admissions yearly due to limited spaces.
He noted that JAMB had made the situation clear to the institutions during its policy meeting on 14th July, after it held discussions with the representatives of the federal, state and private universities where the degree of the problems of candidates were presented and solutions were proffered.
“By this approach, wastage of high scores will be reduced, the fate of the candidates will be determined on time and yet the interest of their areas of study may be satisfied,” Ojerinde stated.
He explained that the decision became imperative because “the big universities are overloaded” while others have spaces that are not filled.
“Can you imagine 8,000 students seeking admission to study law in a university that will take only 250 candidates for law? The remaining 7,750 candidates will wait endlessly and hopelessly till the end of the admission. Or imagine 7,500 candidates seeking admission to study medicine in a university. Of these 7,500 candidates, 2,000 scored above 250 in the UTME. The university has a carrying capacity of only 150 candidates for medicine. The remaining 7,350 who scored above 200 will be wasted. Particularly, 1,750 candidates who scored above 250 will be wasted while other universities either do not have enough candidates or high scoring candidates,” Professor Ojerinde further explained.
He added that JAMB had discovered that courses like Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, Agricultural Engineering and related courses are, in most cases, without enough candidates in the universities while everyone scampered to study medicine and only a small percentage eventually get admitted.
“We are saying; let’s give them a feel of chance somewhere else that has not gotten enough candidates for law or medicine by sending the names of these high scorers to “needy” universities. In addition, the concept of selection by merit, catchment area and educationally less developed states will be adequately catered for.
“However, I am not saying that everyone will get admission or even get their original choice of course of study. But it is better than wasting the time, finances, and good scores of these candidates. We need to fill the available spaces as given to us by the regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission (NUC); National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).
” But if a candidate does not want the given opportunity, he can decline the offer and just refuse to take any step,” the JAMB Registrar stated.
Ojerinde indicted some so-called educational consultants who have hidden agenda, which are being thwarted by JAMB’s proactive steps, as being behind the protests, warning that: “This is a period of CHANGE. If they do not CHANGE they will be CHANGED.”
Assistant Editor SEUN AKIOYE and SAMUEL MALIK in this joint investigation, report on the activities of some self-acclaimed prívate universities whose legality has been questioned by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
In the prosecution dock at the Federal High Court, Akure, Ondo State, stood Dr. Martins Olurankise. Standing opposite him was Ayobami Blessing, witness-in-chief in a case Justice I.M. Sani heard on February 10, 2014. Olurankise and Blessing were fairly familiar with each other; the former as a vice-chancellor and the latter as a student. Now they found themselves at opposite ends of the law.
Eight years earlier, Olurankise was living in dreamland as the Vice-Chancellor of the Akure Campus of Open International University, Sri Lanka. The institution had more than 2,000 students registered for various courses.
Open International University Colombo Sri-Lanka, Akure Campus, was not any other university. Its admission process was not cumbersome. You did not need the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Examination (JAMB) to secure admission into it. All you needed was to pass the special entrance examination of the school, pay the required fees and you would become a student. What is more, you would be given a degree certificate from a foreign university. The prospects were simply too enticing to resist.
Blessing thought she had been blessed after passing the school’s entrance examination and meeting other entry requirements. She was admitted to study for a degree programme in Nursing and Midwifery.
Blessing told the court: “I met the requirements and admission was given. The admission letter showed the name of the school, the course offered and the signature of the Vice Chancellor, which helped to convince me that the school was authentic.”
Her conviction, she said, moved her to pay the various fees required to tie down a place at the institution. “I paid the sum of N5,000 for acceptance fee and a receipt was issued. I then paid the sum of N2,000 and N12, 500 as part of the tuition fees. I also paid the sum of N17, 500 for which a receipt was not issued. I later paid N5,000, making it a total sum of N22,000, for which a receipt was given,” Blessing told the court.
The fees, she explained to the court, were classified as tuition and miscellaneous fees for the 2006/2007 academic session.
The school opened and classes resumed, with students studying courses like Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing.
The next session, Blessing paid N5,000 as part of the tuition fee and got a receipt. She paid another N15,000 which was also receipted.
In 2008, however, Blessing’s dream of continuing her studies in the school crashed. The institution was invaded by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), accompanied by officials of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The agencies were acting on a petition addressed to the NUC by the Ondo State Ministry of Health, to which the institution had written that it was running academic programmes in Pharmacy, Medicine and Midwifery.
Olurankise had written to the Ondo State Ministry of Health, introducing his school and the courses it offered, including B.Sc in Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing and others. It was in a bid to request that the ministry should offer students of his university opportunities for practical training in health facilities in local government areas in the state. Olurankise successfully placed some of his students at medical facilities operated by Akoko South West Local Government Area.
But that was as good as it got. He was arrested by operatives of EFCC and the institution was shut down. One year later, Olurankise appeared before the Federal High Court to face allegations related to fraudulently obtaining money from unsuspecting students.
A disturbing trend
A joint investigation by The Nation and ICIR would later show that there are many others in the country, running illegal tertiary institutions and fleecing hapless students. A major problem bedevilling admission into tertiary institutions in the country is acute shortage of places for qualified candidates.
In addition to this, many candidates are denied admission because they lack basic requirements, notable among which are earning a certain number of credit passes in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examination required for university admission and scoring the required marks in the highly competitive Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.
But a disturbing, albeit recurring decimal, has been the number of students who are qualified for admission but are unable to get places because of shortfall in admission slots. Recent figures from the NUC indicate that the country has 142 universities. Of these, 41 are Federal Government-owned, 40 are owned by state governments, while 61 are privately-owned.
The total number of universities, many experts believe, is grossly inadequate for the number of eligible admission seekers, which has been rising yearly. For instance in 2009, a total of 911,653 candidates applied to sit for the JAMB examination. This number increased to 1,092,324 in 2010. In 2011, it was 1,493,604 and in 2013, it reached an all-time high of 1,735,729. Also between 2013 and 2014, there were roughly 1.67 million candidates who sat the JAMB examination.
Admission places are simply not available in the same proportion. For instance in 2013, the number of spaces in the universities was 520,000 (29.96 per cent) of the students seeking admission.
Most of the universities dealt with this issue by exceeding their permissible admission quotas. According to the NUC report of 2011/2012, University of Lagos’ (UNILAG) admission quota was 6,500, but it admitted 7,527; Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, had 6,688 places but ended up with 7,397. University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) had 5,970 places, but admitted 8,267.
Available statistics also show that only about 20 per cent of post-secondary school students seeking admission into higher institutions get admitted. The shortage of admission places in the federal and state universities makes the privately-owned institutions the only alternative.
However, it is not an alternative open to everyone, as the huge fees charged by the schools constitute an impediment. This, naturally, compels many applicants to keep hoping for places in government-owned universities and creates opportunities for proprietors of unapproved universities to mine applicants’ eagerness for degrees.
They simply establish universities and advertise them as being affiliated to foreign tertiary institutions. Most times, the overseas affiliates are in Asia, a continent where verification is difficult.
“The problem is with the system. Apart from the fact that we do not have enough universities, there is also this craze for a university degree. In Nigeria, you almost cannot make any headway if you do not have a university degree, and we have relegated technical certificates to the background. That is the gap fraudulent individuals seek to fill by establishing schools that would feed the desire of students that are left out,” said Oladele Olaleye, an educationist said.
Another educationist, Mrs. Funso Apoeso, believes that the lure of easy admission requirements is the main attraction to these universities.
“In such institutions, you discover that the admission requirements are always lower than the ones in approved universities. And if someone has tried to gain admission but was constrained due to these, such a person will easily fall prey to such scams,” she said.
In 2006, the NUC went after these ‘gap-filling’ institutions by establishing the Committee on Closure of Illegal Universities (CIU). The committee, which has since shut a number of illegal universities, publicly listed 64 universities as illegal and unapproved institutions in 2013. The NUC said the schools flouted the Educational Act, CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
Operating in the shadows
Adebola (surname protected), a staff of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), remembers exactly where and when he met Olurankinse. “We heard the advertisement on the radio where he was calling for students and lecturers. There were posters all over Akure. I got in touch and he asked me to come for an interview,” Adebola said.
The ‘interview’ held at the Ondo State Library at St. Peters Junction, Oyemekun Road, Akure. It had a three-man panel that included Olurankise. In the end, Adebola was given the school’s posters and flyers and then a shocker: his employment would be based on how many students he brought into the new school.
“My marketing skills aren’t good so I did not bring any student and thus no employment for me,” Adebola said with a smile.
Blessing got Olurankise’s phone number from one of the posters and was admitted to the school after paying the N5,000 acceptance fee. About 2,000 other students also paid about N10,000 each into the coffers of Open International University, Sri Lanka, aside the tuition and other fees.
In the course of a two-month investigation into the operations of these illegal universities, most of the schools on the NUC list and visited had two things in common: they operated on the outskirts of town, possibly to avoid the attention of relevant authorities, and had no structures of their own. They operated from rented apartments or already existing schools.
For instance, Apa University, which reportedly folded up years ago, existed in Utonkon in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State. Getting to Utonkon and back from Otukpo, a major town, on a motorcycle cost about N1, 000, and the location makes it very difficult for relevant authorities, like the NUC, to regulate it.
Apa University had no structures of its own and operated from Government College, Utonkon, a school with decrepit facilities.
Akor Okpe, a victim of Apa University, told our reporter: “The hostel was not good and had small rooms. Students fixed the doors themselves. The sanitary condition was so terrible that students defecated in the bush, and there was no good library to suggest we were in a school, a private school. Even lectures were not regular.”
Also, it takes about two hours from Makurdi, the state capital, to get to Adoka, where Samuel Adokpela University allegedly existed. On arrival in Adoka, the only school seen with the name Adokpela was a secondary school, with residents saying there was never a university there. The university had simply ‘vanished’.
Another ploy of the operators of unaccredited universities is to claim an affiliation with little known universities abroad. This way, they deceive students into believing that they are studying for internationally recognised degrees. It makes sense, therefore, that instead of the students spending millions to travel abroad and undergoing the stress of obtaining visa, the same international degree could be obtained here in Nigeria spending a fraction of the money.
In Ekiti, St. Clement University, Iyin Ekiti, seemed to have folded up and the operators disappeared into thin air. However, one Atinuke, who claimed to have been a victim of the school’s admission racket, said her dreams were shattered after they saw the name of the school among the ones listed by the NUC as illegal and confronted the management.
“The next day, no lecturer came to the lecture rooms. We saw only a few of the administrative officials and within the week, the campus was only filled with students that would mill around discussing their fate. Some would cry and we were unable to console one another. It was like that until one after the other, we dispersed from the institution, seeing that there was no one to hold by the collar,” she said.
In the eastern part of Nigeria, investigations also revealed that many of the universities on the NUC list have gone underground. In Mbaise, Imo State, nobody could recollect seeing Fifom University and the United Christian University, which are on the list of the NUC as illegal. In Abia State, nobody seemed to have heard about the Volta University, Aba. In Oyo State, Acada University in Akinlalu, near Ife, was also nowhere to be found. A resident of the village said he had heard of the school, but it had closed down.
•The site of the Borough College London, Igboho, Oyo State.
There is also the celebrated case of Borough College London, Igboho Study Centre, which has been attracting attention since The Nation did an exhaustive report on the activities of the school. Currently, the school is still shut while the NUC said the operators must return to follow the accreditation process before it could be re-opened.
According to Folu Olamiti, the resident consultant on Media for the ICPC, the operators of the school have two options: “They can either redress any defaults and thereafter resume operations or seek legal protection of their rights if they believe that they are executing their activities with the approval of applicable state and federal legislation. As a last resort, they can forcibly reopen the institution and face criminal charges.”
However, the NUC has an explanation for some of the above scenarios, according to the Chairman of its Committee on Closure of Universities, Prof. Adebisi Balogun. He explained that the universities may have folded up due to the clampdown from his committee.
“The list of universities you found there are compilations over a period of time. Because of our activities, some of those schools have packed up and gone underground. You may not find them where they were listed. At the time we captured those lists, they were actually in operation,” Balogun said.
Impatience
According to investigators at the ICPC, some operators of these schools fell foul of the law for lack of patience. Once they applied to the NUC for permission, they did not wait for approval before beginning to run the schools.
Sunday Adokpela University, our investigation revealed, falls into this category. Having applied to the NUC for permission to operate a university, it went ahead and sold forms without waiting for NUC’s approval.
The school sold forms for pre-degree programmes and gave admissions to students, but then realised that the university was going to take time to start. So, it decided to convert the admissions to polytechnic programmes under the incorporated name of Sunday Adokpela Polytechnic. But since the polytechnic itself was not yet operational, the school approached Fide Polytechnic in the state for permission to administer its programmes to the students and after their graduation, they would be given certificates in the name of Fide Polytechnic.
Students were not happy and some of them decided not to continue because what they wanted was university education.
The ICPC is currently prosecuting some individuals and institutions for operating illegal degree programmes and exploiting students. According to the commission, one Prof. David, operator of a university in Abuja allegedly collected over N100 million from students for the award of honorary doctoral degrees under the pretence that the school is based in Belize in the Americas.
Another operator falsely assumed authority to offer admission and in the process obtained more than N8 million from students by deceiving them that the school was affiliated to Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, to offer degree courses.
Barrister Moses Awe, deputy director, Legal Department, and secretary of the Committee on the Closure of Universities, said the motivation for the establishment of illegal universities is greed and the act an economic crime.
“It is an act of obtaining money under false pretence from gullible students,” Awe said.
This is the case that is hanging over Olurankinse. He has been charged with fraudulently obtaining money from unsuspecting students by false promise.
Legal encumberances
The ICPC and NUC operatives who shut down Evangel Christian University came unannounced. One Saturday, classes had begun and it seemed things would go on swimmingly.
Grace, a woman who witnessed the raid, said the school management was caught unawares. “Many of them were running everywhere looking for escape routes, with many fleeing through the window and leaving the hapless students to their fate,” she recalled.
According to the NUC, when operatives shut down any institution, they are always on the lookout for the proprietor or the vice-chancellor as the case may be. These men usually run away whenever they sight operatives of the ICPC.
But NUC and ICPC have been able to prosecute and get convictions in some cases. For instance, Francis Ada Agbo was convicted in Keffi and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Also, Mr & Mrs Nwachukwu of Temple University, Abuja, were convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment.
But there are others who have either escaped justice or have been able to use the law to their advantage. For instance, the lead prosecutor in Olurankinse’s case, T.N Ndifon, had complained about deliberate tactics by the defence counsel to delay the prosecution of the case.
For Lawrence Kayode Dare, counsel to Olurankinse, his team has a solid defence against the allegations against his client. In a telephone interview, Dare said: “Our defence is that my client is just an employee of that institution. It is not his responsibility to register the school and he didn’t collect any money from the students. None of all the payment receipts tendered was signed by my client. He is not the owner of the institution; he was just employed as a regional Vice Chancellor.
“You work with The Nation. Is it your responsibility to ensure The Nation is registered with the appropriate bodies? And if certain adverts are carried and payment made to the cashier, can you be liable?
“We asked the prosecution if they knew that the parent body is in Colombo and they confirmed that the parent body exists. They should have enquired from the parent body if Martins is an employee of the school,” Dare concluded.
But the case may have hit a dead end. At the last adjourned date of April 11, 2015, the court did not sit on the case and there is currently no date for continuation of the trial. With the lull in the case, there are fears that it may die naturally.
Students’ gullibility
Unaccredited institutions offer the easiest route to a university degree for candidates who do not have the minimum entry requirements of five credits, including Mathematics and English Language; those who consider the JAMB examination an irritation or those who have attempted it without success.
The institutions lure candidates with the assurance that they have nothing to worry about, while the students follow without asking the necessary questions. Even if they do ask, the schools usually come up with convincing answers.
“Seven professors came to assure us that we had nothing to worry about and that the school would be accredited because they had been to the NUC and the process was already on,” Daniel Ojile, a victim of an unapproved university in Benue State, said.
Ojile had become desperate for admission, and when news went round that a university was coming to Idoma land, he was excited. He was offered admission into the school’s preliminary studies and after a year, got admission to study Medicine. Two years later, his world came crashing down.
“We waited for the accreditation and after two years, when I was in 200 Level, we learnt that the school could not secure accreditation and that it would be scrapped,” Ojile, now a final year student of Microbiology in the University of Abuja, recalled.
Awe would also blame some of the students for not being diligent enough to seek information about the universities. He also believed the problem is not that of access to universities, with the Federal Government’s recent approval of specialised universities and over 150 schools students can choose from.
“Nobody has a reason to patronise them. But you would see students with two credits getting admission and a Third Class graduate teaching them. I would blame it on the students. We have a website where they can check for all the information they need. You would be shocked to find that some students even want it like that,” he said.
NUC and the law
As much as the NUC wants to fight the running of illegal universities, it is hampered by lack of prosecutorial powers. Even when arrested, there is no law with which the NUC can charge operators of illegal universities. Currently, there is no law that criminalises the running of an illegal school apart from the Educational Act, CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which stipulates the requirements for the establishment of private universities in the country.
“This is why we have partnered with the ICPC, which has the power to prosecute people who have committed economic fraud,” Awe said.
Implications of attending a degree mill
To many of the victims, the opportunity offered by the unaccredited universities might have been hard to resist, but the implications of attending and graduating from one of such universities are dire.
“The perpetrators of this evil act see themselves as the last hope of the masses. And before the students become aware that they were being fleeced, they would have been in the university for one or two years, with a lot of money already spent,” Ojile, a victim, said.
One easy way of attracting students by these fake universities is to offer them respite from JAMB which, unknown to many students, is the gatekeeper between schools and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
•UTME students about to write exam at a centre… What hope of placement for them?
JAMB is the only body that is responsible for admission into tertiary institutions through the University and Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which qualifies a candidate for admission into a university, polytechnic or college of education.
According to JAMB, while a school may organise preliminary programmes for those seeking admission, such programmes are not substitutes for UTME.
“Some schools, which have their regulatory bodies’ accreditations, run preliminary programmes, remedial studies or whatever they want to do (and) we do not care,” Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s head of public relations said.
“What we do (care about) is that when these candidates go through these programmes, they still have to write the JAMB exam. The point here is that whatever you are doing is like a coaching class for them.”
Benjamin said schools cannot impose candidates on the board simply because the candidates perform well in the preliminary programmes, and that if a defaulting school thinks it is smart and offers admission to students without its knowledge, repercussions await such students.
“If you have to participate in the National Youth Service Corps programme, you must have a JAMB admission letter. And for you to have that, you must have sat for and passed the JAMB exam. To have sat for JAMB and gained admission, you must have got the minimum entry requirements,” he said.
The way forward
According to some experts, the NUC should do more than just shutting down illegally operated universities but also address the roots of the problem. Prof. Olusegun Osinowo, chief operating officer of Sophie Academic Services, Abeokuta, said the government must address the issues of serious shortfall in the number and quality of university lecturers.
He said while there are about 150 universities in Nigeria, the high fees being charged by private universities put them beyond the reach of most admission seekers. Osinowo said the NUC must adopt a more liberal attitude towards part-time programmes and the operation of 24-hour campuses (night study).
“Virtually all Nigerian universities currently operate for between eight and 10 hours daily. The facilities remain idle for the rest of the day. The introduction of night study on these campuses has the potential of increasing enrolment by 50 to 100 per cent, with minimal additional investment in solar panels or diesel generators, pending improvement in power supply through the national grid,” he said.
The Adekunle Ajasin University in Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State chapter of the National Association of Business Administration and Management Students (NABAMS) has held an orientation for fresh students of the department.
The event was held at the school’s MBA Lecture Theatre, where the department’s lecturers took turn to advise the students.
The Head of the Department (HOD), Dr Gabriel Olorunleke, urged them to take their studies with seriousness. He told them to shun all vices that could truncate their admission, which he described as precious gift that must not to be joked with.
He said: “Let me use this medium to urge and advise you to shun all vices that might destruct your academic pursuits in the institution.”
The HOD bemoaned the decline in reading culture among students; he urged the freshers to imbibe the habit of reading to be successful in their career. He said the department had zero tolerance for examination malpractices and other unethical behaviours, warning them to desist from such act or face the wrath of the management.
A lecturer, Dr Timothy Ihinmoyan, urged the students to sustain the performance culture of the department and avoid all acts that could bring the department into disrupt.
Other lecturers, who spoke at the event, urged the freshers to set objectives towards the attainment of their goals.
The association’s Vice President, Adeola Adekuoroye, said the association would organise programmes that would help the freshers to achieve success. She advised the students to attend classes and participate in all classwork.
Some of the students spoke to CAMPUSLIFE after the event. Rebecca Akinsoto, a fresher, promised to work hard to achieve her aim.
Another student, Sunday Paul, said the event made him to understand the dos and don’ts of the department. He promised not to disobey the school rules and regulations.
Highlights of the orientation included presentation of awards and quiz competition for the students.
Almost half a decade after the government introduced the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, to encourage enrolment into the Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, students continue to snub the Polytechnics, while they expressly reject admission into colleges of Education. Medinat Kanabe who interacted with college administrators and high school graduates reports.
Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). That was in an attempt to find a lasting solution to the problems graduating high school students in Nigeria faced accessing higher education, and especially to even out the traffic of students to the various institutions of higher learning, as against the total preference for universities. The situation at the time had become such that students no longer considered the colleges of education and much less were giving consideration to the monotechnic or polytechnic options. It was either the universities or nothing.
Even though Egwu did not last long enough in the office to see the policy come into fruition, it nevertheless got the blessing of the Federal Executive Council and promptly took off with the first examination in April 2010.
The new system according to Prof. Sam Ukpabi, chairman of the examination board was to address the challenges of limited space in Nigerian universities and eliminate the phony rampart the students had inadvertently constructed to limit themselves. He also hoped it would change the history of tertiary education in Nigeria for good, with the youth of the country being the better for it.
Before then, the situation had been such that JAMB (the Joint matriculation Examination Board) founded 1978 conducted a separate matriculation examination for the universities. That was later replaced with the Universities Matriculation Examination (UME), with the Monotechnics, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Examination (MPCEME) introduced in 1989 to cater for all other cadre of schools. The introduction of the UTME therefore meant that the millions of candidates seeking admission into all higher institutions will be subjected to the same examinations.
The new system, according to Prof. Ukpabi, has several advantages, including saving cost, since candidates no longer have to take multiple examinations. They also get to save energy, and there is a greater likelihood of the students gaining admission to at least a university, polytechnic or college of education, rather than wasting at home and waiting for another year.
Most importantly, he explained that going forward; it will also help in dismantling the long-existing dichotomy between graduates of the universities and their counterparts from the polytechnics/monotechnics.
Not much have changed
But have things really changed? Do high school graduates now willingly accept admissions into colleges of education for instance? Or do those whose preference has always been with universities now accept polytechnic or monotechnic admissions?
A chance interaction with a group of colleges of education provosts during their annual meeting at the Michael Otedola College of Primary Education,MOCPED Lagos recently, provided the semblance of an answer.
According to Dr. Ignatius Ezoem, Provost, Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba, the introduction of the UTME has not achieved much in terms of increasing enrolment into his college. Rather, he shocked this reporter with the news that it has actually continued to decrease.
Even as he acknowledged that he, as a government employee, shouldn’t be criticising government policies; he nevertheless professed that “we must look for ways to address the lapses” that might have emerged there-from.
He advised that the government should first address the issue of teachers’ welfare and elevate teaching to the level of profession, if indeed they want students to start seeing colleges of education in a different manner.
“If a teacher is well remunerated and the condition of service is improved, many people will go to colleges of education because they want to be teachers. Right now nobody wants to be a teacher; everybody wants to be a lawyer, an engineer, a medical practitioner, a pilot, but nobody wants to be a teacher. The fear is there. The age-long thinking that teachers are not well paid, that teachers are the downtrodden in the economy is still there.”
His position was corroborated by the Provost, Federal College of Education, Zaria, Dr Maccido Mukhtar, who argued that the status quo would remain, “until such a time when government decides to implement teachers’ salary scheme.”
“What I am trying to say is that you can be a professor but choose to teach in the primary school and get a professor’s salary. And if you decide to teach in the university, you will get the same salary. Once that is implemented and their salary is enhanced, there is no way teaching or teacher education will take a back seat. All over the world, they respect the teacher more than any other person. If you go to Japan, the highest paid salary earners are teachers. And so it is with many other countries; but as far as the rich and influential are concerned here, teaching can go to hell. The question therefore remains, if nobody cares for teaching, what happens to the schools?”
Dr Bashorun Olalekan Wasiu of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin, also agrees that the population is dwindling.
The AOCOED provost’s suggestion however is that government should “train teachers for basic education. They might actually be given the mandate of training first degree students. They should be able to award degrees in education. That might be a solution and that might give the opportunity of being able to increase the enrolment and enhance the quality.”
He also said the fact that they are teachers puts them in better stead to train teachers than the universities. “Students can then progress to the university for their masters and PhD.”
Another solution, he said is to enrich our curriculum, with entrepreneurship programmes to benefit the students. “The students should be able to come out and be employers of labour when they finish because unemployment is everywhere. If the programme is enriched, students will not feel inferior to the university graduates,” he concluded.
On her part, Professor Francisca Ladejanu of the College of Education, Ikere Ekiti insists that an average student will always prefer to go to a university, and next to that, a polytechnic. “Colleges of education come last (even on the form) and that makes it more difficult for us to get students that will make them first choice.
“It is not that colleges of education are not acceptable to students, it is just that they see products of colleges of education as not enjoying the same social status like others in other higher institutions. If teaching profession is made more attractive, then more students will want to come into education.”
Asked if she thinks candidates are scared of becoming teachers, she said “I don’t think they are afraid; it’s just that everybody wants a good thing. If someone gets something good out of his college of education certificate, the most obvious thing is he would advice others to do same. If teachers are well paid; if they enjoy good standing in the society; then more students will want to come into education.”
Candidates thumb down for colleges of education
Benard Clement wrote the last UTME. It was the 20 year-old’s second attempt and he told this reporter matter-of-factly that “I cannot attend a college of education. I wrote UTME last year and scored 189. I could easily have gotten admission into any polytechnic or college of education but I decided to write another exam this year and I will continue to write until I meet the cut-off mark needed to go into the university of my choice.”
Continuing, he said “In Nigeria, the NCE certificate is not recognised and I don’t want a useless certificate. I don’t want a situation whereby I will waste my time and money going to a college of education and at the end of the day I will be running up and down looking for a job.”
Another candidate who has written UTME twice and scored 172 and 192 respectively; also told The Nation that he is writing again, albeit in fear that he might not score the cut off mark yet again. Speaking with a dint of regret, Saka Sadiq said: “If I had known I would have accepted the offer of polytechnic admission given me in the past sittings, because I am not sure I will score up to what I want this time.”
Even then, he insists that “No matter what, I cannot attend a college of education. I can manage to attend a polytechnic but never will I attend a college of education. Even Bsc holders in Nigeria have not got jobs and you say I should attend a college of education, I will not.”
17 year-old Habibat Rasheed is writing UTME for the first time, but she sure she will not attend a college of education. “The only thing that will make me consider a polytechnic is because it can afford me the opportunity to take a direct entry to the university and I will only do that because I wouldn’t like to just stay at home waiting to write another UTME.” She said.
Habeeb Abideen however hates teaching, and makes no attempt to be civil about it. “I cannot even touch it with a long spoon. They are not well paid, they go on strike, and they are not accorded the right recognition in Nigeria. I can make the salary of a teacher in one week if I go into business; that is why I want to study business administration.”
Hope for candidates
The Public Relations Officer for JAMB, Dr Fabien Benjamin took time to further explain to candidates why it was necessary to introduce the UTME, assuring them that with time, polytechnics and even colleges of education will be on the same level with degree holders.
He explained that the problem of HND/degree dichotomy and the problem of people preferring degree over polytechnic and colleges of education led to the introduction of the UTME, “to bridge the gap so that we will have the same entry requirement.”
“If you say that degree is the same with HND and you are giving them different entry requirement, then you have already told them from the beginning that they are not the same. So we want to ensure uniformity, the same three requirements, the same standard, the same, certificate, the same grading and the same consideration.
“We want to encourage technical education because the polytechnics are established to enhance technical education and if you don’t give these candidates any reason to go to polytechnics or colleges of education, then they will not go.
“A situation whereby somebody will go to the polytechnic and finish and you come and tell him that he is an educative officer and that a degree is far above whatever he has acquired would not encourage others to attend.”
Asked why enrolment into these colleges has not increased since the introduction of UTME, Dr. Benjamin said any policy that is introduced must go through a process.
“The board has taken up a step to unify the entry requirement and what the ministry of education is doing at the top level is to ensure that the HND/NCE dichotomy is completely eradicated. And they are seriously working on it, but it is not a magic wand that you just swing and it happens. It is a process and the candidates are also watching to see how employers of labour will react to this policy. So you’re not likely to get a different reaction from the students or schools, until it gets to the market and the market accepts it,” he explained.
He also said that one of the measures being considered as an immediate incentive is to have the government make it such that “if someone has an HND, let him go straight to do his Masters. He does not have to do a Post Graduate Diploma first; and if you have an HND and are employed, you should be taken in as an administrative officer and also have the same terminal point with degree holders.”
That way, he said, students will begin to have positive attitude towards polytechnic education.
Make degrees minimum qualification for teachers
Responding to the clamour to make a degree the minimum qualification for teachers, Dr. Benjamin said: “That is part of the comprehensive policy we are talking about. What educationists want to do in Nigeria is for teachers to be able to teach well. You cannot teach what you don’t have and under normal circumstance, people that are teaching are supposed to be the best; and even if other companies are taking less than first degree, a teacher should not be anything less.
“Government is therefore considering upgrading colleges of education to degree awarding institutions, so that teachers will come in, do their degree programmes and no longer NCE; and even if they do their NCE, they will be able to proceed immediately to do their degree programmes. That will very likely encourage them not to stop at NCE, but go further and obtain their degree.”
He concluded that “Most people don’t want to go to colleges of education because they think all they would get is an NCE, but if they know that they can be awarded a degree, chances are they’ll go the long haul.”
In its desperation to hold on to power at all cost, the People Democratic Party (PDP) has suddenly thrown all caution to the wind. All of a sudden, decorum no longer means anything to the party and its leaders. An inordinate obsession for power has abruptly turned a ruling party into a shameless propaganda machine that is churning out series of lies in inconceivable fashion every minute. Lubricating the propaganda engine of the party is no other than a queer personality who, in saner climes, should be behind the bars over graft matters. That the PDP could even make such a dubious character the rallying point of its presidential campaign propaganda mechanism speaks volume of the party’s make up. Without a doubt, the PDP is on the verge of self-destruct and the colossal fall of the phony “biggest political party in Africa” is imminent.
It is rather strange how a ruling party, that is supposed to have the edge in a political contest if it had performed well in terms of delivery of visible dividends of democracy for the citizenry, has chosen, rather barefacedly, to resort to propaganda. A ruling party in a normal setting will go into election on the strength of its kept promises, showcasing its people-oriented programmes and meeting the visible testimonies from the people whose lives have been touched and their welfare needs met by the government. Unfortunately, this is not so with the clueless government of Goodluck Jonathan as it cannot point to anything as achievement since 2011 other than a dismally performing economy, a naira that is almost becoming worthless, the over 13,000 innocent lives lost to Boko Haram, a criminally high level impunity, hi-tech corruption and kleptomania of a high degree as well as kidnapping that has reached an inexplicable degree. Ironically, this is the same party that was initially talking about issue-based political campaigns.
Unfortunately, for the PDP, lies and distortions is a lifeline for a brazen party that wants to cling on to power by all means. So, while the electorates were expecting to hear from the PDP what it has done to improve the economy, stabilise power, create jobs, stem corruption, advance education, upgrade infrastructure and beef up security, the party has chosen to play to the gallery by celebrating frivolities. It has resorted to character assassination and mudslinging as high point of its campaign strategy. Thus, if it is not about Buhari’s age today, it is either about his health, certificate, complexion, height, wife or his children the next day. The demonization of Buhari and other APC leaders have so much become the sole campaign manifesto and agenda of the PDP that the people are already getting tired of it.
While flagging off his re-election bid campaign at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, President Jonathan took the demonization of Buhari to a ridiculous height when he claimed that his administration could not win the war against Boko Haram because General Buhari did not buy ammunitions for the military while the latter was in power way back 1985. Unknown to the President and his gang of hypocrites, they were merely making a mockery of themselves because what readily came to the minds of men with lucid thoughts is why the President should think of winning a 2015 combat with the weapons bought in 1985! This asymmetrical line of reasoning from the President clearly explains why the nation has been heading in the wrong direction since he came into office. It speaks so much of the sterility of the minds that have unfortunately been saddled with the highly demanding and daunting task of providing seasoned and reasoned leadership for the country.
Naively, the more the PDP attempts to batter and disparage the All Peoples’ Congress, APC, the more it exposes itself to sickening public ridicule. For instance, as the party appears to have given up on Buhari and devised another cruel campaign against the person of Professsor Yemi Osinbajo, his running mate, who Femi Fani- Kayode, the basket mouth of the party who, strangely alleged to have swore to an oath with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign from office after six months, it got condemnation from the people who could not imagine how it suits Femi Fani-Kayode to thrive on ignoble ways. The desperate PDP has left that now to concentrated much energy on frontal attack on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who it now disparages in a documentary which PDP’s television station, AIT broadcast last week to portray the APC national leader in bad light. Unfortunately, this callous attempt has not, in any way, affected the profile of Asiwaju who is leading Nigerians to have the desired change and give the country the long awaited freedom this month.
As at now, many parts of the country have started experiencing fuel scarcity. As if it is not disgusting enough that an oil producing nation of Nigeria’s profile is importing petroleum products into the country at huge cost, the clueless PDP- led government, in its characteristic lame duck style of buck passing, said, through Alhaji Adamu Muazu, the national chairman of PDP, that it is the opposition that is responsible for the fuel scarcity being experienced in the country.
The joke around town now is that if it doesn’t rain for some time in the country, the opposition must be the ones behind it. Regrettably for Muazu and his apparently senile co-travelers, however, the Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, has come out to tell Nigerians that the devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) is the real reason for the current fuel crisis. Certainly, the PDP is an assembly of confused and illogical minds who are toying with the destiny of our great country and who must be voted out so the country can progress.
Hypocrisy and double-speak have become the hallmark of the PDP. It is the worst case of double standard for the PDP to question the basis for General Buhari’s recent appearance at the Chatham House, London, when the same platform was used a few weeks back by the administration, when the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, first gave a hint of the postponement of the general elections. For the hypocritical PDP, it is alright for Dasuki to be at the Chatham House, a globally respected platform where statesmen speak on vital national and international issues, but it suddenly becomes an improper platform because Buhari is involved. The pointless eruption of the PDP and its propaganda machine against Buhari’s outing in London is exactly the kind of reaction that has turned the party and its leaders into a bunch of clowns across the world.
The truth of the matter is that Nigerians are not in any way swayed by the PDP’s tissue of lies and propaganda against Buhari and the APC. They are quite aware that it is the trademark of the failed and unaccepted PDP led government. Nigerians recognize that the PDP’S resort to bankrolling clearly defective propaganda against leaders of the APC is an indirect way of admitting that it has failed the country, but are concerned about the desperation that the PDP and the Lords in Abuja are putting into this election. The way they have been going about to put everything on the way of a free, fair and credible election clearly shows that they do not want Nigeria to continue to be when they are voted out. When a ruling party relies a great deal on propaganda as a major campaign selling point, one does not need to go to a great length before submitting that such a party has nothing to offer the people.
The fact that the PDP–led government has been wasting public funds in broadcasting damaging information about the APC and its leaders as well as the recent hiring of people to protest during General Buhari’s recent appearance at the Chatham House in London are indications of how the country’s hard earned resources is being squandered by the dense and inept Jonathan administration. As it is now, the die is cast and there is no hiding place for these enemies of the people who want to perpetuate kleptomania,
mediocrity, brigandage and lack of focus, as imminent trouncing awaits them at the polls. You can postpone an election as much as you want but you cannot destroy the resolve of the people yearning for change.
Ibirogba is Honourable Commisioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State
Students are unhappy with the admission process of universities and other higher institutions which they claimed has robbed them of studying their choice courses.
The students said the problem could lead to a career crisis for many youths.
Many students have been studying courses they did not pick because of the schools’ space constraints.
Arutu Yinka, a 200-level student of the Department of English Languge at the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, said: “I opted for Law, but was given English. At first, I wanted to reject the admission but after spending three years at home, I had to take what was available and the available now seems to be my calling.”
He said it was advisable for institutions to give students options rather than denying them admission. “It is now left to the student to determine whether he or she will develop interest in it or wait for another year to write JAMB,” he added.
Another student, Bello Mustapha of the Department of Local Government and Developmental Studies at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, said: “ I did well in my UTME and the test conducted by the school. I scored 29, and the cut-off mark for Marketing was 25, which ordinarily qualified me for the merit list. But I was given Local Government and Departmental Studies, all the same.”
Bello said he was disappointed when the admission list came out as he could not find his name on his choice department’s lists. “I didn’t know what to do at first because I love and wanted to study Marketing as a profession,” he said.
Olowookere Damilare, a 300-level student of the Department of Zoology, OAU, said: “My score couldn’t meet up with the admission requirements of Pharmacy, my first choice. I had to grab Zoology with both hands because thousands of people are outside seeking admission to universities.”
Olowookere urged students to desist from forcing themselves to study certain courses that could jeopardise their future career plans.
