Scrap JAMB, Others Now- Sowore

Rights activist, Omoyele Sowore has called on the federal government to scrap the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, because it’s no longer relevant to the current realities in the country.

Apart from JAMB, the popular journalist said examination bodies such as the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, and Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, should be equally outlawed, describing the federal government agencies as useless institutions.

Sowore made this known in a post on his X account following amidst recent backlash against JAMB for conducting a very controversial examination, in which so many candidate failed.

Of the over 1.9 million candidates who sat the UTME, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200 out of the maximum 400 marks,  while the records from JAMB also indicate that a total of 1,955,069 results were processed, out of which only 4,756 candidates (0.24 per cent) scored 320 and above.

The Board had already admitted the error and has rescheduled the examination for 379,997 candidates. JAMB’s Registrar and chief executive office, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede made this known on Wednesday, at a press briefing in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

In spite of admitting failure on its part, JAMB has not escaped criticism from not a few Nigerians, particularly, from parents and candidates who wrote the examinations.

Reacting to the controversy, Sowore said JAMB and other examination bodies in the country have outlived their relevance, and should be scrapped immediately.

“Time to scrap these extracurricular bureaucratic busybodies …JAMB, NYSC, TETFUND, NELFUND, they are all useless!” Sowore wrote on his X page.

While admitting the error on Wednesday, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, said the exam body regretted that the last exam has brought confusion in the country, saying the error on the part of JAMB has turned the joy of many candidate otherwise.

“What should have been a moment of joy has changed due to one or two errors,” Prof. Oloyede said.

The UTME is a prerequisite for gaining admission to Nigerian universities, Polytechnics and other tertiary institutions in the country.

Meanwhile, not a few has also insisted that the Prof. Oloyede -led JAMB management has performed well in some areas, including the introduction of technology into the conduct of the exam and so, should be allowed to correct its mistake. Scrapping the Board, they argue, would be tantamount to throwing away the baby and the bath water.