By Kuni Tyessi
Following the insistence of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to make use of the National Identity Number (NIN) as prerequisite for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), parents and students have continued to lament that more hardship has been added to their registration predicament.
Speaking to THISDAY in exclusive interviews, they (parents and students) said JAMB has forced them to go through difficulties like extortion from NIMC officials, long queues in scorching weather, non-adherence to COVID-19 protocols, thereby exposing them to danger, and other unwholesome practices devoid of ethics just to qualify for registration.
Earlier, the Board had on April 5, 2021, extended its registration date, and had in a statement signed by its Head of Information and Public Affairs, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, apologised for its inability to complete the process of a smooth pin vending and candidate access to the registration app for the 2021 UTME/DE examinations.
JAMB had said: “This delay is caused by some unforeseen circumstances occasioned by our determined effort to have NIN integration. This challenge is being resolved, and once that is done, all processes shall commence. Candidates are therefore requested to exercise some patience.”
However, two days later, the Board, through its spokesperson, announced that registration had commenced as: “It was only put on hold to resolve the technical hitches. Registration is now in full swing.”
Despite the JAMB’s claim that it had solved all pending NIN hitches, parents and candidates are of the opinion that enough has not been done by the Board.
A candidate, Beatrice Ibrahim, said: “I was here even before 7 a.m., and this is my third day of coming to this place all because I want to register for NIN and then proceeded with my UTME registration. Everything here is slow. If you want them to be a bit fast, you need tip them, and sometimes they don’t even follow the numbers given. The internet keeps ceasing; honestly this is frustrating. Just look at the weather? This is not fair!”
Another candidate, Auwal Sani Zanga, complained that: “Honestly, I’m frustrated. This is the third centre I have come for registration; it is the same story of inadequate staff on ground to attend to the people. Even if there’s enough manpower, the computers are not enough. Just look at how JAMB is exposing us to COVID-19. Why bring up a policy that you haven’t finished working on? The issue of NIN should have been made to be a slow and gradual process just like the case of CBT.”
In his response, JAMB spokesperson, in a telephone interview, said all the complaints had been tackled and dealt with before the decision to use the NIN was put in place.
He added that due to the seriousness attached to the registration process by the commission, 7,000 centres have been put in place across the country to make registration easier for candidates.
Benjamin lamented that the inability of victims of extortion to report to appropriate quarters was compounding issues, pleading that only one scape goat is needed to serve as deterrent to others.
According to him: “You must not own a phone, but must have a SIM tied to you. That SIM could be your father’s, mother’s, brother’s or sister’s. The SIM must be tied to an individual candidate.
“NIMC has made this very clear. The problem we have in this country is that most if the time, the people complaining are also cooperating with the people extorting them. There are clear statements that once a person demands money, such person should be reported. But people are not coming forth with such information. We just always get the information that people are being extorted. They should get us just one person and they will see what will happen.”
