Professor Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has warned universities to stop admitting underaged persons, describing the development as “illegal”.
Speaking at the seventh biennial conference of Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities in Nigeria, Oloyede said, “About two months ago, I received a letter from an European country to confirm if a student actually graduated from a particular university because she is 15 years old and applied for postgraduate course. They question they asked me is ‘Is this possible in Nigeria?'”
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He continued, “I had to call the Vice Chancellor of the institution and he confirmed the student graduated from the university but was not admitted by JAMB. He had to include that he was not the VC at the time the student was admitted.”
Oloyede emphasized that state-owned universities must do a lot to address this situation, as they constitute more in number than federal universities.”
Also, illegal admission of diploma students needs to stop because last year, we admitted 9,000 diploma students; I was alarmed that about 3,000 students came from a particular university. Everyone of us should be accountable because all these acts can damage our education system.”
Former Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, urged the pro-chancellors to make a plan of action on how they could make their institutions as competent and attractive as federal and private universities.
“State owned universities must explore how best to carve out specific niches which inevitably place them in a position to exploit corresponding comparative advantages that enhance their position,” Gambari said.
READ ALSO: JAMB Uncovers 3,000 Fake Graduates, Decries Illegal Admissions
Senator Joshua Lidani, Chairman of COPSUN, noted that the theme of the conference encompassed many issues that had to do with governance in the university system.
“Some of these challenges include: corrupt practices, impersonation, miracle exam centres, inadequate funding, proliferation of universities.
Others were discriminate and premature dissolution of governing councils and boards of tertiary educational institutions and delay in reconstituting them,” he said.
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