"Father forgive them, for they know not what they are saying for now”. This was the response from the JAMB boss Professor Dibu Ojerinde while reacting to the recent uproar over the list of eligible candidates sent to institutions.
According To him, the reason behind this new admission policy is to help candidates not only get admission but get it on time.
Below are excerpts of the exact words of the JAMB Boss;
The big universities are overloaded. Can you imagine 8,000 students seeking for admission to study law in a university that will take only 250 candidates for law! The remaining 7750 candidates will wait endlessly and hopelessly till the end of the admission.
Or imagine 7500 candidates seeking for medicine in a university. Of these 7500 candidates, 2000 scored above 250 in the UTME. The university has a carrying capacity of only 150 candidates for medicine. The remaining 7350 who scored above 200 will be wasted. Particularly, 1750 candidates who scored above 250 will be wasted while other universities either do not have enough candidates or high scoring candidates.
Courses like Biological Sciences, Agric Engineering and related courses are lacking in candidacy!
We are saying, let's give them a feel of chance somewhere else that has not gotten enough candidates by sending the names of these HIGH scorers to "needy" universities.
The names of such surplus candidates are being distributed to first Federal institutions, then State and finally Private institutions in that order depending on:
• Availability of space in other universities,
• Choice of the course of the candidate,
• The geographical Zone of the choice of the candidate, and
• Performance of the candidate.
By this approach, wastage of HIGH scores will be reduced, the fate of the candidates will be determined on time and yet the interest of their areas of study may be satisfied.
addition, the concept of selection by
• Merit,
• Catchment Area, and
• Educationally Less Developed States
Will be adequately catered for.
However, I am not saying that everyone will get admission or even get their original choice of course of study. But it is better than wasting the time, finances, and good scores of these candidates. We need to fill the available spaces as given to us by the regulatory bodies like NUC, NBTE, and NCCE.
If, however, a candidate does not want the given opportunity, it is too "baaaad".
This scenario was made clear to the institutions during the Policy meeting that took place on 14th July this year in Abuja.
Before the Policy meeting, we had discussions with the representatives of the Federal, State, and Private universities where the degree of the problems of candidates were presented and solutions were proffered. These decisions were backed up by copious statistics of applications to various universities.
Again “Father forgive them, for they know not what they are saying"
I believe that some so- called educational consultants have some hidden agenda which are being thwarted by our proactive steps. Let them know that this is a period of CHANGE. If they do not CHANGE they will be CHANGED.

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