In line with our mandate to engage policy makers to formulate policies that will be overall interest of the poor masses, we at Beyond Boundaries Legacy Leadership Initiative (BBLLI) will like to reiterate our commitments toward promoting good governance and accountability, by exposing any form of government ineptitude. We will continue to give a voice to the oppressed, the downtrodden, and the denizens of the society whose rights are trampled upon everyday with impunity.
Never have we had it so bad as a country. We have a system that is flawed from it’s very foundation. Our leaders conveniently forget that governance is a continuum. Until they become conscious of this simple fact, we will continue to formulate and pursue policies that cannot be sustained.
Before now, to register for JAMB was a simple cut and dried process. All you needed to do, was to go to any designated bank or any JAMB outlet, pay your money and be given a hard copy of the form to fill. As much as Nigerians want reforms, we will not support any kind of reform, especially one not designed to ameliorate the sufferings of the already suffering masses or reforms that will make things difficult, rather than making life easier for our teeming youth population.
After having inherited a fine-tuned system from his predecessor, the present registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede decided to carry out his own private reforms which are commendable if much thought and plan was given to its formulation and implementation. He gave the indication that the former process was fraught with financial irregularities, and the body was ironing out modalities to eliminate all forms of financial impropriety and other corrupt practices associated with scratch cards.
To forestall such developments, he announced that JAMB will discontinue the use of scratch cards, and will resort to the use of an online platform of pin vending which includes web payments, ATM issued cards, online quick teller, mobile application, and bank branch case card. However, this new process leaves a sour taste in the mouth. From frying pan to fire, is a more apt analogy.
We have had reports of candidates been beaten and pushed around like cows by security operatives and as well, sleeping at JAMB computer based centres to purchase forms without success. In a country where we want to encourage youths to acquire a higher education, the process of attaining that should not be made so difficult and cumbersome. The idea behind the reform was to monopolise the registration process which is not a bad one. But the question is does JAMB have the capacity to achieve that now?
In our country, formulating policies have become proverbial, execution is our major problem. We are calling on the leadership of JAMB to as a matter of expediency review this new policy to give our youths who want to gain admission to tertiary institutions a soft landing because the purpose for which the reform was introduced in the first place has been totally defeated. No doubt the process this year has been fraught with several irregularities. Children of the privileged and more affluent in the society pay their way to facilitate quick registration, while those who cannot afford to do so are made to stand in the sun for days. This has inevitably triggered pockets of violent reactions in some centres across the nation where JAMB offices have been vandalized and street protests have erupted.
Prof. Ishaq Oloyede needs to be reminded that with the current economic situation that Nigerians are facing, it is inhuman to subject prospective candidates to a system that wears them out both financially and emotionally even before they sit for the exam. He should quickly introduce some form of intervention or honourably resign from office.
We call on the federal government, the ministry of education and our legislators to ensure that JAMB carries out its mandate more effectively and efficiently. Should this suffering continue unabated, we might be forced to mobilize Nigerians to occupy NASS, Ministry of Education and JAMB office to drive home our point.
