Admission into nigerian tertiary institution is like. A game where one has to b sharp and not nonchalant waiting on the nigerian huzzling to crumple u.
This applies to the applicant and parent

I will be very brief, giving just the
important things to do.
1. Request from your child his UTME
result. See what he scored. If he has
anything 160 and above, depending
on a number of factors, he may be
admissible into a university, but
even with slightly lower marks, he
can gain admission into other types
of tertiary institutions.
2. Weigh your chances, if need be a
more inmformed person. If your
ward has high scores like 240 and
above, your worries may not be
much, again depending on the
course he applied for and the
university.
3. If the scores are low, you may,
depending on your assessment of
chances, even need to change the
course or institution he applied for,
or both. Fortunately, even if your
child was over ambitious in his
choice, because children usually fill
the forms while they are at school
without consultation with their
parents, you now improve his
chances of admission by buying a
GREEN CARD at the nearest JAMB
office and making the necessary
changes online. Please inquire from
the JAMB office the dateline for
effecting the alterations or else it
may be too late. Just do it as quick
as possible from the week following
the one in which the result was
released after taking an informed
decision.
3. FIRST CHOICE of a polytechnic,
College of Education or University, is
what is used for admission. Hardly
would any university listen to you if
your child has chosen it as a second
choice. From my experience, they
often get annoyed with you. The list
of applicants sent to the universities
by JAMB is usually of the first
choices of applicants only. Be very
careful on this. It is a golden rule.
4. If you find out that your child is
not likely to be admitted into a
university, you may wish to try your
luck in a polytechnic or college of
education of his FIRST CHOICE.
There, the cut-off points are usually
much lower. This is one of the
dividends of unifying the
matriculation examination. Kudos to
NBTE, NBCE, NUC and JAMB.
5. Also, play it safe by restricting
your choices to your CATCHMENT
AREA. The entire country is a
catchment area for UNIABUJA.
Apart from it, I don't think there is
any with that wide net. Please let me
be corrected on this if I am wrong.
Then ABU is a catchment university
for all states in Northern Nigeria.
The same thing I think are UI,
UNILAG and IFE to the southwest.
Then other universities and
institutions have their respective
catchment areas in their zones and
neighbouring states. If you are an
indigene of Bauchi for example, BUK
is not your catchment university, but
UNIJOS and all universities in the
former Northeast are, as well as
UNIABUJA and ABU as we
mentioned. Please pay attention to
this golden rule too, unless you are
sure that your child has the high
scores that will place him on the
national MERIT LIST of the
institution he has applied for.
6. Once you have finalized on where
the child has the best chances of
admission, immediately establish a
link with someone you know in the
university or higher institution of his
FIRST CHOICE. If you don't know
anyone, please find one by taking a
trip to the place and meeting with
someone in the department he
applied for or in the academic office.
Make sure you EARN his goodwill if
you want him to be picking your
calls and giving you the correct
information. And depending on how
well you EARN that goodwill, he may
even be the one calling you and
intimating you on the stage of the
admission process. As a Nigerian
you know what I mean. Haba! A beg,
me I no dey for wahala if Lamorde
catch una wo. But if you have a good
friend there, ah, you may not need
to go that far. It could even backfire
especially in Northern Nigeria.
7. Maintain a regular contact with
your link. Enquire from him when
the admission exercise of the
university will commence. (Note that
different institutions in Nigeria have
different academic calendars)
Disturb him. Be on his neck, until
your son is through, of course
softening his mind with your polite
mouth and smiling pocket, if
necessary.
8. For universities especially, the
post-JAMB, or post-UME test as it is
called, may be necessary. Don't miss
it. Don't joke with it. Ensure that
your ward prepares for it as he
prepared for UTME and WAEC, in
fact even more. The post-JAMB
scores are pooled with that of the
UMTE to determine the admissibility
of your child. But not all universities
conduct it, and hardly do
polytechnics and Colleges of
Education.
9. Do whatever is possible to ensure
that the name of your ward appears
on the first list of admitted students;
otherwise get it on the second. Even
with the best promises, banking on
the third list, or "VC's list" as it is
called, must only be the last resort
for people with long legs. If you are
an ordinary Nigerian, your final
chance is the second list. Otherwise,
better start preparing for the worst.
10. Finally, for universities that do
not conduct the post-JAMB test but
admit solely on the basis of UTME
scores, ensure your child works hard
during the first semester. If he
doesn't earn at least a certain GPA
aggregate, he may be withdrawn
immediately the results of the first
semester are out.

Ur own advice will b highly invaluable

Could this explain why I never got admitted into UNILORIN with a UTME score of 238 and post-UTME score of 72%; and by simple arithmetic, average of 263--63 points above their cutoff? And all they did when I contacted them was to give me some useless suggestion, 'check the portal to know admission status' when I'm explaining that the portal read 'you have not yet been recommended for admission. Please check back later'. Who does the recommendation to the demerit of the well-deserving candidate who maintained a clean sheet and merited admission?
Could it be because I'm opposed by that tribalised catchment area trick? Just our problem. The outside world discriminates against us being blacks and africans; yet we discriminate ourselves.
Well, it's home sweet home. Home of self-retarding corruption. Now I have to settle for computer science in rivers state for the while.

'I have seen beggars ride on horsebacks; and I have seen princes go on foot: the race is not to the sincere nigerian, nor the battle to the peaceful citizen--long leg and strong hand guarantees it'. That's how it's done around here.

I phoned UNILORIN today and my suspicion was confirmed. The man at the other end of the telephone told me to help myself, that this is nigeria where everything is possible. He said that some persons who scored 20% in post UTME had been admitted already, that the cutoff mark doesn't matter. He said he already had his own candidates to help. Terrible.

Craigston:
I phoned UNILORIN today and my suspicion was confirmed. The man at the other end of the telephone told me to help myself, that this is nigeria where everything is possible. He said that some persons who scored 20% in post UTME had been admitted already, that the cutoff mark doesn't matter. He said he already had his own candidates to help. Terrible.

Dats nigeria fr u Bro.its rily tiring