Senator Nwebonyi Onyeka Peter (Ebonyi North)
By Raphael Ekpang
Nigerian Senate on Wednesday resolved to summon JAMB and University of Nigeria Nsukka to explain the circumstances surrounding this “Undisclosed Admissions” phenomenon and the career killing saga.
This, was sequel to a motion sponsored by Senator Nwebonyi Onyeka Peter, representing Ebony North at the 10th Senate tittle, ” Urgent Need to curtail the practice of Undisclosed Admissions and other unwholesome practices by JAMB and Universities, particularly the University of Nigeria, Niukka.”
Presenting the motion on the floor of the Red Chambers, Sen. Onyeka Peter had informed his colleagues that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was established in 1978, originally, with the mandate to regulate admissions into Nigeria Universities through the university matriculation examination (UME);
He also noted that the duties of JAMB were later expanded to include regulating admissions into other higher or tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria, prompting the change of nomenclature of the entrance examination from the UME to the United Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), to include entrance into Nigerian universities, polytechnics, mono-technics, and colleges of education,
However, he said, JAME initially offer provisional admissions into tertiary institutions on awaiting result status but stopped it on the ground that many applicants who were offered such admissions abused the awaiting result life-line by not obtaining the qualifying results for the admissions till their graduation:
According to him, “the authorities of Tertiary Institutions, in cahoots with some JAMB officials have reverted to the practice of provisional admissions into prized professional courses like medicine and surgery, pharmacy, law, Engineering nursing science, etc. with view to shortchanging some students already offered admission in exchange for gratification
“The travails of one Miss Chinyere Ekwe and 290 others who were admitted to study medicine and surgery at the University of Nigeria Nsukka but had their admissions truncated on the order of JAMB for no plausible reason, after they had completed the admission processes and resumed lectures. Miss Ekwe in particular, scored 291 in the 2019 UTME and 300 in the university’s post UTME which qualified her for the course, and was subsequently admitted by the university:
“The said Chinyere Ekwe was transferred to the department of medical laboratory science on the ground that if her cumulative grade point is up to 45 points after the first year, she would be transferred back to medicine and surgery. However, despite the fact that she surpassed the 4.5 threshold, her admission status is still not yet certain as to whether she is duly admitted in the department of medicine and surgery or medical laboratory science;”
Sen. Onyeka Peter expressed worried that the provisional admission practice is being used as a malicious tool to exploit and frustrate intelligent young Nigerians who are children and wards of ordinary people, who seek admission into Nigerian Universities;
He vowed that he and his colleagues in the 10th assembly will not sit down and watch these caliber of persons in the UNN and JAMB destroy the future of Nigeria which of course is the youths with their nefarious activities using their respective offices.
The Ebonyi state legal luminary and a federal lawmaker said he will use his position as a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria and as a Senior lawyer in the country to fight for the brilliant children of the common Nigerians; like Chinyere Ekwe and the 290 others whom UNN in collaboration with JAMB are working towards destroying their futures.
He commended Ekwe who made a bold step by reporting to the Senate, having written to the university, returned to the University Senate and promises were made, but to no avail. In addition Sen Peter pointed out that she ran to the Senate being the voice of the voiceless and for her to be heard, and that is the ground of this motion.
“And I believe that the provisional admission procedures had been banned before now. Every admission coming from JAMB or the Universities should be certain that she (Ekwe) is qualified to study medicine or surgery, or she is not qualified. The idea of hanging people school, especially when some people are qualified, and been given an admission only to turn around to swap the courses is a kind of career killing method and it’s fraudulent, that is why we’re calling on authority. relevant committees of the Senate to investigate this allegation
“The relevant Committees of the Senate to invite and hear from both parties and address this issue because this problembif not handling well will destroy the future of our children. And I must tell you as a nation, we may develop infrastructural and otherwise, but the best development we can give to ourselves and to another generation is to give our children quality education,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Peter lamented that these children who bestirred themselves to make good grades in their UTME are being made to pay the necessary fees, undergo the rigorous processes of registration and matriculation, resume lectures, and sometimes, even take semester examinations, only to be transferred to other less competitive courses by the universities in connivance with JAMB without any plausible explanations, thereby destroying their ambitions in the course of the unholy act of course swap:
He said, the psycho emotional trauma this unexplained course swap bears on the victims is so. devastating that it is capable of leading the individuals to depression, loss of enthusiasm, and worse even, leading some of the victims into crimes; and also that such uncertainty and unfair treatment as meted out to Miss Chinyere Ekwe could cause the aspiring young girl irredeemable emotional trauma and loss of confidence in the Nigerian state.
He maintained that such unwholesome practices could put our educational system in jeopardy, cause apathy on the side of ordinary Nigerians and also dampen the renewed hope the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands for.
