THE GREAT IMPOSITION! JAMB Registrar Assumes Powers Not Confered By JAMB Act

Professor Dibu Ojerinde of JAMB

Prospective candidates and their guardians have roundly rejected JAMB’s reasons for the JAMB’s purported intention to re-distribute candidates to other universities. They argue that university of choice is exclusively the decision of the candidates and their sponsors, not JAMB who ought to be an impartial facilitator.

GRAPHITTI NEWS gathers that there is a strong groundswell that the JAMB registrar appears to be turning his office into a marketing arm of the Private University owners in Nigeria. This surely would amount to gross act of impunity and partiality.

ThisDay reports the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan chapter has kicked against the recent policy of redistribution of candidates against their choice of institutions by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

ThisDay report continues:
ASUU said JAMB had made the admission process chaotic and exposed candidates to fraudsters, adding that the examination body must respect candidates’ preferences and choices for tertiary institutions and consider security of lives of candidates, cost, proximity, quality, and rights of the Nigerian child in arriving at any policy.

ASUU therefore called on Nigerians to join in calling for the total scrapping of JAMB, saying it has outlived its usefulness.

While reacting to the recent policy, ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan, Professor Segun Ajiboye, described the policy as insensitive and exploitative of the children of the poor, adding that it amounted to abuse of their fundamental human rights of freedom of choice.

But in a swift reaction, ‎JAMB has further explained that the policy to redistribute candidates who have cut-off marks less than what their institutions of first choice required to needy institutions was done to assist the candidates and their parents, noting that the ASUU UI chapter’s claim that it was anti-poor was not true.

JAMB also described the union’s claim that JAMB would make about N1 billion as proceeds from candidates buying cards to check their redistribution status as unfounded, noting that the checking is completely free and calling on parents and candidates to check the Board’s website from Thursday,  July 30, 2015, for their names and institutions they are placed in.‎

ASUU had lashed out at the Professor Dibu Ojerinde and JAMB Board for being so insensitive to the plights of the Nigerian 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.

According to Ajiboye, the University of Ibadan for instance, provides a level playing ground for students who scored 200 and above in JAMB examination to compete for the available spaces in the university.

“Candidates choose universities considering quality, cost, proximity, courses of choice, among others. Will Dibu Ojerinde pay for the fees so charged by the institutions (including exorbitant fees in private and state universities) where the candidates have been reassigned? If a candidate is reassigned from Lagos to Ondo State, will Ojerinde foot the bill and expenses incurred and incase of any accident. Who is JAMB protecting the candidates or their cronies in other institutions? It has to go.”

“An institution that asked candidates to make their choices of universities, polytechnic and monotechnics has now turned back to impose tertiary institutions on candidates and is demanding another N1000 to access information.‎ This JAMB has outlived its usefulness.”

But a statement signed by JAMB’s Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, yesterday the board explained “that the National cut-off marks of 180 for universities and 150 for Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Innovative Enterprise institutions in the 2015 UTME was a bench mark to set the tone for 2015 admission exercise.

“The board has redistributed the other candidates who has cut-off marks less than what their first choice required to needy institutions and we urge candidates and parent to check the board’s website from Thursday,  July 30, 2015 for their names and institutions they are placed in and it’s free without paying any amount. Please for purpose of clarity the checking is FREE.”