BY TEMI OHAKWE, ABUJA – The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has said that the introduction of the National Identification Number (NIN) as a prerequisite for the registration of the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is aimed at checkmating examination malpractices and security.
Oloyede, who said that even though the directive emanated from the Minister of Education, explained that with the directive, JAMB may not require the name of the candidate as the NIN would suffice, adding that the Board will then do the needful to pull the data of the candidate which enable the process go on from there.
According to the JAMB boss; “It is for security reasons; for us at our small level, it helps us to avoid impersonation but there is a bigger picture of insecurity in the country and we know that many of this problems we have is because we have identification problem. We cannot identify every citizen, where he is and what he is doing.
“Government is trying to ensure that we have some strategy for improving the security system and of course if those who are coming in to the tertiary institution are exposed to this basic civil responsibility, it will be good to develop a culture of accountability because accountability starts from being identified,” he said.
Oloyede, who stated these in Abuja on Friday during a virtual meeting with owners of Computer Based Test Centres, service providers and other stakeholders to kick start the 2021 UTME registration, noted that candidates must make use of accessible SIM cards which has never been used for UTME registration.
He said that talks are ongoing with the minister of Communication and Digital Economy to grant a conditioned waiver to an estimated 20 percent of candidates without a SIM card.
He further said; “We have told the National Communications Commission (NCC), approached the minister of Communications and Digital Economy and we are hopeful that we will be granted waiver with of course, conditionalities which we must ensure the candidates meet.
“Not all the candidates are without SIM, 80 percent of the candidates already have their number. We are talking of the 20 percent and if we are fortunate enough to secure the waiver of the minister through the NCC, we will go ahead to make sure there is full compliance to the conditionalities because it is in our interest as a nation that those things that are put in place should be allowed to protect all of us.”
Oloyede therefore warned that no CBT is allowed to register candidates for NIN, noting that any centre found to engage in such act would be sanctioned.
He said; “No JAMB accredited CBT centre is allowed as agent of NIMC in the enrollment of NIN”.
While cautioning owners of CBT centres against examination malpractice, the JAMB Registrar said all centres owned by the same owners of a centre caught in the moral act would be suspended.
He said over 100 centres were delisted between 2020 and 2021 for various infractions including registration and examination malpractice.
