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JAMB Accepts Blame For 921,013 Illegal Admissions Into Varsities
The Registrar and Chief Executive of Officer, Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has lamented that many Nigerians blame the body for the 912,013 illegal admissions processed by tertiary institutions in the country.
This was as the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Fadah, vowed to block further attempts by corps producing institutions to present unqualified persons for national service.
Oloyede, however, said JAMB won’t hesitate to prove its innocence and expose those culpable for the nearly one million illegal admissions into tertiary schools between 2017 and 2020.
Both he and Fadah stated these at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Batch ‘C’ pre-mobilisation workshop of the NYSC in Abuja, yesterday.
Speaking, the JAMB Registrar, said: “All problems related to mobilisation either rightly or wrongly are put at the doorstep of JAMB.
“We are ready to accept, but will continue to say that while are ready to take the blame, we won’t hesitate to prove our innocence. We will be proving our innocence by exposing those who are actually culpable.
“We have over 900 institutions that are producing, for admission, candidates with JAMB, but we have continued to take measures in conjunction with the NYSC to make sure that the fake ones among those who are being mobilised are demobilised.
“One of the steps we have taken is to introduce the Central Admissions Processing System, CAPS which accommodates all the genuine cases and exposes all the bad ones.
“CAPS has shown clearly that those who are bad have nowhere to hide and will continue to be exposed.
“We started CAPS in 2017, and some people thought it was a joke, but we have come out with the list of people who have been illegally admitted between 2017 and 2020.
“As of today, on their own, tertiary institutions who had initially denied any culpability, have confessed they gave illegal admission to close to one million candidates between 2017 and 2021.
“Last year, the Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu, eventually granted amnesty and directed that we should try and see how we can rescue close to one million candidates that have been illegally admitted.
“If you take into consideration that the country admits about 600,000 candidates into tertiary institutions each year, you will realise that close to one million (illegal candidates) is enough to destabilise the system.”
Consequently, called on corps producing institutions to make sure that they follow the rules.
He also disclosed that there are different shades of malpractices in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by JAMB.
“If you’re talking about cheating in the exams hall and trying to change the marks, go to Southern Nigeria. However, if you’re talking about manipulating the registration process before the exams, go to Northern Nigeria,” he said.
Other issues the JAMB Registrar identified as bedevilling the system include: Student trying to compromise staff for mobilisation, fraudsters defrauding candidates with fake admission, delay by institutions in processing genuine admissions, and the delegation of authorities by institutions to less qualified persons who are compromising their integrity.
On his part, the NYSC DG expressed concern about the declining quality of graduates being presented for mobilization.
According to Fadah, “During the 2022 Batch ‘B’ Streams I and II Orientation programmes, our field officers detected a good number of Prospective Corps Members, especially those claiming to be foreign trained, with shocking inability to defend their supposed educational qualifications.
“Series of confessions were extracted from them, and these will hopefully assist us in carrying out further investigations.
“You will agree with me that there is the compelling need for school managers and other stakeholders in education to rise to the occasion and nip this problem in the bud.”
Earlier, the NYSC Director, Corps Mobilisation, Mrs. Victoria Ango, explained that part of the efforts to contain the menace of fraudulent mobilisation informed the choice of the workshop theme: ‘Stemming fraudulent enlistment in mobilisation process: Time for drastic action to arrest menace.’
According to her, “The theme is an expression of management’s desire and determination to employ result-oriented measures to some of challenges.
“The ultimate aim is not to witch-hunt anyone but to discourage deliberate acts of dishonesty to serve deterrent others.”
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.