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  • Admissions: When merit no longer matters

    Admissions: When merit no longer matters

    By Osakwe Ifunanya

    Every year, millions of young Nigerians register for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with one dream in mind, to gain admission into a federal university and study a course that can shape their future. For many, that dream is Medicine, Law, or Pharmacy. But as the admission lists are released year after year, a familiar frustration returns: merit no longer seems to matter.

    We tell our young people that education is the key to success, that hard work and dedication will pay off. Yet, the experience of many students shows a system that rewards influence, not intelligence; connection, not competence.

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has made several efforts to ensure fairness through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS). On paper, it looks like a transparent and reliable process. But in reality, the admission system into certain courses, especially the highly competitive ones, remains clouded by secrecy and manipulation.

    According to JAMB’s own data, over 1.9 million candidates sat for UTME in 2024, with fewer than 500,000 eventually gaining admission. Of these, more than 230,000 candidates applied for Medicine and related courses, yet less than 30,000 were admitted. For Law, the competition is just as steep. But beyond the numbers lies the real issue: how the admission slots are distributed, and to whom.

    Many high-performing students are denied admission for reasons that remain unclear. They meet the official cut-off marks, excel in Post-UTME, and fulfill all requirements yet they are turned away. Meanwhile, others with significantly lower scores are admitted, often through backdoor arrangements or “special lists.” This happens across almost all federal universities in Nigeria.

    A case that gained attention recently involved a student who scored 325 in JAMB and 88% in Post-UTME, only to be denied admission into Medicine at a top federal university. Her name never appeared on the merit or supplementary list. Meanwhile, another candidate with a lower score was offered the same course. Insiders whispered of “connections.” This story is not unique; it is a reflection of what has quietly become the norm.

    The result is widespread disillusionment among students and parents. Many now view the university admission process as unpredictable, opaque, and unfair. This erosion of trust in the system poses a serious threat to our educational integrity. When young people see that their best efforts do not guarantee fair consideration, they lose faith not just in the system, but in the idea of fairness itself.

    The consequences go beyond frustration. This lack of transparency contributes to the growing brain drain Nigeria faces today. Talented students who could have excelled in Nigerian universities are now seeking education abroad, where they believe the process is more merit-based. For those who cannot afford to leave, the feeling of injustice often leads to apathy and resentment.

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    To rebuild credibility, the Federal Ministry of Education, JAMB, and Vice Chancellors must commit to transparency and accountability. Universities should be mandated to publish full admission data, including departmental cut-offs, catchment allocations, and the basis for each admission decision. The CAPS portal should also be improved to show real-time explanations for admission status changes, so candidates understand why they were accepted or rejected.

    Furthermore, the National Universities Commission (NUC) should enforce routine audits of the admission process across all federal universities. Merit lists, supplementary lists, and special considerations should be published side by side, showing clear score ranges. Openness will not only restore confidence but also discourage those who exploit the current loopholes for personal gain.

    Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, the one thing that gives every Nigerian child a fair shot at a better life. But when access to higher education becomes a privilege reserved for the connected, we lose the moral foundation on which our universities were built.

    If Nigeria truly hopes to compete globally, it must begin by cleaning up its admission process. Transparency should not be optional; it should be the rule. Merit must return to the centre of university admissions. Because when hard work stops counting, hope fades and a nation without hope cannot move forward.

    •Osakwe contributed this piece from University of Benin(UNIBEN)

  • Admissions agony

    •University places must be increased without sacrificing standards

    The  revelation by Professor Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), that only about 30 per cent of the total number of candidates seeking admission to Nigeria’s 153 universities are qualified to do so puts the vexed university admissions crisis in a new light.

    For too long, the focus has been almost completely on the inability of universities to cope with ever-increasing candidate numbers. While this is a significant problem, Oloyede’s argument opens up new perspectives that may offer new ways of considerably reducing the problem.

    Speaking at a one-day public hearing on the regulatory conflict between JAMB and universities in offering admission in Nigeria, Oloyede claimed that the common perception that all candidates seeking admission were qualified was false.

    A sizeable portion of them, he explained, were actually awaiting their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results, and many would ultimately end up not having the five credits, including English Language and Mathematics, that are the minimum entry qualification for university admission.

    With characteristic bluntness, the JAMB head declared, “If you score 400 over 400, if you do not have the five ‘O’ Levels, you cannot come into the university. The basic qualification is the five ‘O’ Levels.”

    There is little doubt that the nation’s universities cannot accommodate all the candidates who apply for admission. Of the 1,736,537 candidates who sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in 2017, less than one in every three of them will be admitted into Nigeria’s 153 federal, state and private universities. In 2016, the total number of candidates was 1,589,175. In 2015, it was 1,475,477.

    Although the number of universities in the country has risen to meet increasing demand, they simply cannot cope with the near-exponential rise in UTME candidates. Licensing more universities to operate comes with its own problems: declining quality, increasing malpractice, and the reduction in standards are some of the more obvious consequences.

    It can thus be seen that the problem has assumed complex dimensions: huge and growing numbers of candidates on the one hand, and insufficient facilities on the other. Tackling it effectively requires a correspondingly multi-dimensional approach, including preparing candidates properly for public examinations like WASSCE and UTME, expanding the admitting capabilities of universities, and ensuring that standards are maintained.

    It is counter-productive for hundreds of thousands of candidates to seek admission to university when it is almost certain that a majority of them will not have the minimum WASSCE qualification. In the 2017 WASSCE, only 59.22 per cent of the 1,559,162 candidates had the requisite credits in five subjects including English Language and Mathematics. Any one of the remaining 635,676 candidates who sat for the UTME this year would have been wasting time and money.

    Adjusting timetables to ensure that WASSCE results are released in time to enable prospective candidates know whether they should take the UTME or not would help to reduce the number of candidates and eliminate the cost and the stress involved in UTME preparation. JAMB might also do well to consider demanding that all candidates have confirmed WASSCE results before they register for the UTME.

    As for the expansion of universities’ capacity to admit more students, it is time to seriously consider the development of the multi-campus system as a viable approach. If the relatively wealthy University of California system can have nine campuses across California, there is no reason why Nigeria must continue to have stand-alone universities, each being compelled to replicate facilities and compete for limited numbers of staff.

    Multiple campuses will inhibit falling standards, curb unethical practices, and ensure that broadly similar levels of performance are maintained. Academic and non-academic staff can be deployed across campuses, as opposed to the current practice whereby experienced staff moonlight across several universities.

  • JAMB gives Nov 30 deadline for admissions

    The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Is-haq Oloyede, has said the Board would ensure the conclusion of the 2016/2017 admission into tertiary institutions by the approved deadline of November 30.

    Oloyede, the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, gave this assurance last Monday while declaring open the 2016 Technical Committee Meeting on Admission into the First Choice of Institutions at the Bayero University, Kano.

    At the meeting attended by Admission Officers of tertiary institutions in the country, Oloyede assured them that the Board would not usurp their powers to admit.

    The JAMB Registrar said admission would only be based on specified national policies.

    “It must be made categorically clear that the task of JAMB is coordination and not substitution of the traditional responsibilities of the Senates/Academic Boards of tertiary institutions.

    “Consequently, no candidate must emanate from any other source (JAMB inclusive) outside the list prepared and recommended by the institutions. JAMB has the right to reject candidates for non-compliance with extant rules and regulations but will not be allowed to substitute or originate any names without the prior concurrence of the institutions” he said.

    Oloyede listed the national policies to include: guidelines stipulated by the proprietors of the institutions; 60:40 (Science/Arts) ratio for conventional universities; 80:20 (Science/Arts) ratio for non-conventional universities; 70:30 (Technology/Non-Technology) ratio for National Diploma Awarding Institutions;  Use of 2016 JAMB UTME results printouts for all candidates who scored 180 and above;  adherence to subject combinations of various courses as specified by the Senate/Academic Board and included in the 2016 UTME Brochure;  adherence to the 2016 Admissions Quota as prescribed by the regulatory bodies (NUC/NBTE/NCCE); and for Federal universities, the criteria stipulated by the Federal Executive Council concerning Merit, Catchment and Educationally Less Developed States.

    “In the discharge of this national assignment, it is important that we act with focus on what is beneficial to the largest number of Nigerians. We must avoid adding to the burden of the masses of our people who rightly yearn for higher education as a veritable means of active participation in public life,” he further stressed.

    While urging Admission Officers to work hard and exhibit commitment, synergy and cooperation between JAMB and their various institutions, Oloyede assured them that he would strengthen the work of his predecessors, especially Prof. ‘Dibu Ojerinde, who lifted the Board to an enviable standard of international repute.

  • Candidates protest suspension of admissions

    Candidates protest suspension of admissions

    About 7,000 prospective admission seekers are protesting the suspension of admissions for the 2015/2016 academic session into Osun State-owned tertiary institutions.

    The admission seekers under the aegis of Concern Applicants have also called for the refund of the fees they paid for admission forms.

    They threatened legal action against the institutions management and the government if their money is not refunded.

    The four tertiary institutions involved are the State Polytechnic, Iree, State College of Education, Ila-Orangun, State College of Education, Ilesa and State College of Technology, Esa-Oke.

    Speaking on behalf of his colleagues in an open letter addressed to the institutions’ management and the government, Biola Oyeniyi, condemned the admission suspension order.

    Biola, who had applied for admission into the State Polytechnic, Iree said it was wrong to collect money from them and not process their admission, saying it was also wrong for the school authorities to hold onto their “hard earned money” without contemplating refund.

    He, therefore, called on the National Boar d for Technical Education and the Governing Council to prevail on Governor Rauf Aregbesola to correct the abnormality in the process of last admission exercise which prevented prospective applicants from gaining admission this year.

    According to him: “We shall resist any attempt to bully us because we know that the institutions have been removed from the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB). So, our money must be refunded.”

    “It is more than seven months now that these schools have collected money as high as N10,500 from Higher National Diploma applicants and nothing less than N4,000 from United Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates without any hope of conducting screening not to talk of giving us admission.”

  • Varsity disclaims fake admissions

    Authorities of Crescent University, Abeokuta have drawn the attention of the public to a fraudulent website www.topix.com advertising fake Crescent University supplementary admissions to defraud unsuspecting admission seekers.

    In a statement through its Public Relations Officer, Idris Katib, members of the public were advised not to pay any money into private accounts of any admissions ‘agent’ as being requested.

    It urged that all enquiries about the institution’s 2013/2014 admissions should be channeled through the website -www.crescent-university.edu.ng or admissions office of the institution’s registry.

    Katib also advised the prospective candidates of Crescent University, Abeokuta who scored the UTME national minimum to visit the institution’s campus at Km 5, Ayetoto Road with a N5,000 bank draft of any bank paid in the name of the university.

     

  • ‘Federating’ tertiary institutions’ admissions

    SIR: As someone, who in the last one dozen years has had great joy and pride to have advised some 180 students for their undergraduate theses, I read with great consternation and a heightened sense of chagrin Prof. Rukkayat Alkali’s almost patrician, patronizing finality that about 1.4 million candidates who sat for the University Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) would not get placement into institutions of their choices; this figure of “absolutely certain “rejectees” is out of a total of 1.7 million candidates. Oh dear!

    Why UTME, then? Lately, Nigerians have been all too chirpy in the rumour mill about the 8.5 billion naira raked in by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) as internally-generated revenue (IGR) to have these candidates sit for the examination in the first place.

    It would be a good sign, indeed, if all candidates who sincerely desire to study at higher institutions are duly given placement slots; no, of course not, this is not mawkish utopianism! The minister’s stance smacks of an all-powerful central command structure with respect to how Nigerians wish to study at the post-secondary stage. The argument that facilities are “over-stretched already” at all existing federal, state, and private institutions of higher learning does not impress me much because I have come to the conclusion that what rickety facilities that are there are not even optimally utilized.

    At my department, so the grapevine says, there are crates of laboratory equipment from the 1980s that have not been broken open till now: yet I have single-handedly counseled some 180 students for their undergraduate theses: most of these student have integrated seamlessly into society and are doing jolly good in their chosen careers at home and abroad; those who have dared to pursue graduate studies (at home and abroad) have not disappointed one bit. Actually, in the year 2006, I had the honour to teach a final-year class of 250 students; I am very impressed by the number from that class who are currently pursuing interest in their PhDs. Yet, according to the grapevine, there are crates of lab equipment from the 1980s that have not been broken open till now. Classic case of appropriate equipment glut, eh?

    Methinks individual institutions of higher learning across Nigeria, with no arm-twisting from the “federated” National University Commission NUC, could still make do with expanded student intakes in order to act an “academic sponge” to “soak up” all those “excess-above-requirement” who may not get admission placements come the 2013/2014 academic session.

    What could be done is to prop the crop of academia, mentally and materially, to embrace the challenge of increased student body. Presently, the corps of academia is one dormant baby-producing institution. I should know this. Naturally.

     

    • Sunday Jonah

    Federal University of Technology,

    Minna, Niger State