Education

UTME: JAMB Makes N400m From Correcting Errors In Candidates’ Name As Performance Declines Sharply

Published

4 years ago

October 24, 2021

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, a couple of years ago, made over N400 million from candidates who requested that their names be written in other manners apart from the ones they initially inputed while filling forms to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.

The Registrar Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, the body in charge of the exam, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who disclosed this, said the supposed errors were intentionally made by such candidates who bought more than one form, and who hoped to present the results of the exam where they scored higher marks for admission purposes.

Oloyede stated this while delivering a lecture at the Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University LASU, Ojo, Lagos.

The lecture was titled “Normalising the abnormal: JAMB operations during the COVID-19 era.”

Oloyede who assumed office in 2016, said the incident occurred during his first year in office.

“Then, the charges for change of name was N1,000. I was curious when I saw that the Board raked in about N400 million from that alone.

“That means about 400,000 candidates saying they did not arrange their names properly or they spelt them wrongly.

“After digging deep into the matter, we found out that some candidates bought more than one form and then use different names with the intention of presenting the result with the highest marks for admission process.

“To curb that, we subsequently introduced the system whereby candidates are the ones who input their names directly and if anybody says he makes a mistake in the spelling of his name that is his own problem,” he said.

Oloyede decried the attitude where parents were helping their children to cheat in examination, saying the normal habit of children shying away from cheating because their parents would not condone that had been thrown away.

Giving a breakdown of the recorded cases of malpractices during the conduct of UTME from 2010 to 2018, he said the year 2010 had the highest figure of 49,371.
Year 2011 had 19,824, 2012 had 7,881, 2013 recorded 12,532, 2014 had 3,037, 2015 had 2,581, 2016 had 3,462, 2017 recorded 2,512, while 2018 had 9,831 cases.

To stem the tide of malpractices, he said the Board introduced monitoring and remote testing if CBT centres’ network, biometric capturing of 10 fingers of candidates, embossment of photograph on all documents among others.

On the conparative performance of candidates in the last four years, Oloyede said it had been on downward movement.

In 2018, out of 1,607,743 candidates that wrote the UTME, 25.82 percent scored 200 marks and above, while in 2019, when 1,817,306 wrote it, 22.97 per cent were in that category, while in 2020 that had 1,949,692 candidates, only 20.76 percent scored that high and in 2021 with 1,312,992 candidates only 12.84 per cent scored 200 marks and above.

The trend continued in other categories and in the category of those who scored 140 marks and above, 96.96 per cent in 2018, 90.92 percent in 2019, 91.57 per cent in 2020 and 73.43 percent in 2021.

(VANGUARD)

Education

HOMEF Decries Alarming Rate Of Malnutrition, Food Insecurity

Published

6 months ago

March 1, 2025

Editor

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), has decried the alarming rate of malnutrition and food insecurity in nations of the world, lamenting that Nigeria tops the list.

According to HOMEF, rather than directly addressing the challenges of malnutrition and food insecurity, the government of Nigeria is focused on the deployment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as a solution to food insecurity.

INFO DAILY reports that HOMEF’s research of 2023 reveals that Abuja tops the list of GM food with 16 products followed by Lagos with 12 products while 11 products were captured in Port Harcourt on the chart.

Benin City and Warri followed on the chart with 9 and 8 products respectively while Yenagoa, Uyo and Enugu had 4, 3 and 1 products in their respective markets during the research.

Speaking at the organization’s Sustain- Ability Academy on Food Justice and Restoration which was held at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, the Executive Director, HOMEF, Tasked Nigerians to challenge “current narratives in favour of industrial agriculture.”

Speaking on the theme: Food Justice and Restoration, Bassey, said the
current narratives of hunger in Nigeria and Africa require urgent in-depth interrogation, just as he attributed hunger in Nigeria to the persistent violence in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY).

Bassey added: “According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, up 33.1 million Nigerians are projected to be food insecure in 2025.

“This projection is based on a number of factors namely: economic hardship, coupled with record high inflation (which reached 40.9 per cent for food in June 2024), climate change impacts, particularly foods, which directly impact the rising costs of both food and essential non-food commodities and services.

He continued: “Persistent violence in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) hinders food availability and access. Additionally, armed banditry and kidnapping in the Northwest and farmer-harder conflict in the North-Central states, including Zamfara, Kastina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and Niger, exacerbate the prevailing economic struggles,” he stressed.

The Executive Director, therefore, charged the Nigerian government to “protect the rights of people to safe food and a healthy environment irrespective of their social or financial status.”

“We all contribute by making healthy food choices, supporting agroecological initiatives, and advocating for policy reforms,” he added.

Earlier, the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, UNIBEN, Prof. Chris Omokaro, said a Professor of Agricultural Economic it pleases him that the programme focuses on GMO, and urged Nigerians to interrogate if GMOs follow the natural principle of breeding.

Education

18-year-old UNILORIN Student Becomes Chartered a Accountant

Published

7 months ago

January 18, 2025

Editor

18 year-old student of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Department of Accounting, Miss Faith Aduragbemi Olabisi, has qualified as a chartered accountant.

According to the bulletin of the university, the feat was described as a rare display of the superlative service delivery obtainable at the University of Ilorin.

The statement said that Miss Olabisi is one of the several candidates who were successful in the November 2024 professional examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Speaking on the development, Miss Olabisi said that it had always been her dream to become a chartered accountant as soon as possible.

Miss Olabisi appreciated the support of her lecturers and mother who provided her with the necessary motivation needed to attain the feat at her age.

Also speaking on this rare feat, the acting head of the Department of Accounting, Dr Segun Abogun, said that he was very impressed with what he called “Miss Olabisi’s Outstanding Achievement.”

He explained that Miss Olabisi is one of the several students of the department that passed the ICAN professional examinations last year.

Dr Abogun encouraged Miss Olabisi and her colleagues to continue to serve as role models to others for the department to produce more chartered accountants among them, even before their graduation from the institution.

Reacting to the development, the vice chancellor, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, expressed delight with the laudable achievement of the Unilorite.

In a statement issued by the institution’s director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Kunle Akogun, the VC, who said that he was not surprised with the performance of Miss Olabisi, said that the institution had always produced record-breaking professionals among its students, staff, and alumni.

The vice chancellor, who is also the secretary-general of the association of West African Universities (AWAU), explained that it is performances like that of Miss Olabisi and the enduring peace within the university that had made it the nation’s most sought-after.

Professor Egbewole congratulated Miss Olabisi for making herself, family, institution and womanhood proud as he encouraged her to continue to give her best to her studies and to remain a shining role-model not only in learning but also in character.

The VC also encouraged other students of the institution to emulate Miss Olabisi for them to also succeed in their academic and professional endeavours

Education

2025 UTME/DE Registration Yet To Begin, Says JAMB

Published

7 months ago

January 15, 2025

Editor

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that registration for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) has not yet begun.

In a statement posted on its official X account on Wednesday, JAMB assured candidates that the registration process details would be announced soon.

The post reads: “Attention prospective 2025 UTME/DE candidates! Kindly note that registration has not commenced. However, details on the exercise would be announced soon.

“You can get your NIN ahead and a phone number that has not been previously used to register on our platform to generate your profile code prior the time.”

In another development, JAMB revealed that The Lekki Headmaster by Kabir Alabi Garba will be the recommended text for the 2025 UTME Use of English examination.

“Attention prospective 2025 UTME candidates! This is to inform you that The Lekki Headmaster by Kabir Alabi Garba has been approved as the reading text for the Use of English,” JAMB said.

“Details on the UTME/DE registration shall be released shortly. Kindly be on the lookout for updates.”