OPEN LETTER TO BUHARI: Incompetence of JAMB as a National Agency -By Haris Aliyu

JAMB Boss Professor, Dibu Ojerinde

Dear President Muhammadu Buhari,

JAMB Is A Failure Which Needs To Be Resolved Or Dissolved Immediately.

With great pleasure and immense honour, my esteemed gratitude goes to almighty Allah who gives us the opportunity to witness the first democratic transfer of power from a party to another, following a peaceful poll in good faith and harmony. We prayed tirelessly for this moment to come; so as to stable our social, political, economic and security situation which has been insatiable wrecked by corrupt individuals who runs the government for long. I pray that God will give you the might to survive all the storms and thunders of leadership until you deliver the nation to it rightful destination.

Mr President Sir, Join Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) are the sole door-front of all universities and polytechnics in Nigeria. But due to the fast-growing interest in education among young people, an arrant corruption in the government agency has inwardly made the learning institutions more commercial and competitive in the country.

Despite that education was ruled to be free and compulsory in the national constitution (under the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy). In my opinion, the organization is hundred steps backward to progress in our tertiary education system.

Even though IJMB, Pre-NDs, Diplomas and Remedial Programs exist; from their inception to date, JAMB doesn’t have any alternative in the industry. They are only third-party with the responsibility of processing and considering all applications through the UTME program.

Notwithstanding the key arms of government which were alleged corrupt and mismanage, I’m aware of your duly commitment to put things right. Since your administration is new and capable. In this regard I had to say sir; our tertiary education system is totally complicated. It’s neither encouraging nor progressing, and a lot of Nigerians are loosing faith in it.

It also appears to me that your administration is overlooking the faults in JAMB, which has been a major setback to Nigeria’s Higher Education. And if not, what will be the course of action if the agency happens to be the highest contributor to the vast rate of unemployment in the country?

It is understandable if the new government is not conversant to what has happed in the agency off-record, whatever it is, is not good enough and it’s affecting the nation in many ways.

Sorry to say, JAMB is nothing but a cancer on the country’s economy which needs to be cured immediately. Because of their thorough failure, the unrelenting numbers of Nigerian students in other countries is always increasing.

However In every four months, about ten thousand army of Nigerians jaunts out of the country for university education (base on my guesstimate). Each and every one of these students is expected to spend nearly $6000 for tuition, accommodation, feeding, water and electricity in 10 months. If you multiply the total number of these students (which increases annually) by their approximate spending, the result in two sessions will be a billion in hundreds Nigerian naira.

This lot of money is spent by ordinary Nigerians just to get a degree and relevant certificate, and to come back home and join the queue of millions more unemployed graduates.

Possibly, JAMB contributed to the increase in rates of unemployment in the country, and the reason most compelling is their complicated criteria. So if they think we are clueless on the ever-increasing rates of unemployment in the country, this is why Mr President!

Because they made money of no value to ordinary Nigerians, most parents sacrifices about 80% of their monthly income on private education, rather than investing on good routes of economy. JAMB is no doubt one of the country’s biggest problem, as it criteria will believable supports underage marriage to the female students who were denied the chance to continue their education. Parents of these children will have no choice but to marry them out.

Also Students who were denied the chance to get busy studying might in the process of waiting ends-up becoming problem to the society, by getting their hands dirty in drugs abuses and other unlawful activities.

I’m Nigerian, and I must admit I had a very bad experience with JAMB for over five years. I have seen a brother who registered for UTME five times which sundry ends unsuccessful. I also purchase the ‘Direct Entry Form’ considering my ‘Upper Credit’ in a Diploma obtained from state polytechnic. Although students who weren’t considered for admission are presumed those who failed the entrance examination; how about sheepskin holders with Upper Credit?

I believe in my self and I’m confident that even if you are to mark my script by yourself sir, you will get the point that JAMB has totally been failing the country for long, and they are not an agency to rely on.

Under the guise of so-called free education; they do not in any way consider young people as the leaders of tomorrow, rather they see them as customers, and good means of generating revenue. Why do they expect us to believe in them, when we see our young ones passing their SSCE with flying colors and ends up being underscored by JAMB deliberately? What is the SSCE result for, since it cannot earns them admission in to the universities.

Apart from their national headquarters, state and regional offices, JAMB don’t own any examination facility. And most of the UTME supervisors and invigilators are ad-hoc workers, and with less energy and effort, they extort money from students and randomly decide the numbers of those who will pass and those who will fail, making the amount of Nigerians seeking admissions tripling every year.

Apparently, if each university is to conduct their aptitude test in their own facility, with their academic and non-academic staffs as the examination officers; departmentally and transparently processed. I believe the amount of intellectual students who stayed at home will be quite different and the money to be spent outside the country will be invested and more jobs will be available for us.

Unlike JAMB who processed millions of results in one week. If I’m given the mandate by the presidency to decide on what to do with them, I would suggest transforming them in to ‘entrance examination process delegates’. This will be just fine and will not add to our current unemployment status.

Therefore Mr President, I feel extremely happy to bringing to your notice that many Nigerians with belligerent desire for education are still at home because of JAMB, and the number is increasing year-by-year still the government is doing nothing to rectify the problem. Once they receive there cut, business continues.

So to say; I was once a victim of JAMB. But since I found my own way to continue without them, I humbly suggest that ‘if education is of any priority to your administration, the agency should be rethink so that more ‘vibrant young people’ will not be deprived there rights to study in ease,’

Yours most loyal,
Haris Aliyu
Twitter: @ActiveHaris