Despite complaints of poor access to tertiary
education in Nigeria, the Registrar, Joint
Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof
Is-shaq Oloyede, has said 44.7 per cent of
admission spaces were not taken up by candidates
in the last admission exercise.

Speaking at the 2018 policy meeting for tertiary
institutions in Nigeria held at the brand new Bola
Babalakin Hall, Gbangan, Osun State Tuesday,
Oloyede said of the total 1,025,487 spaces
available in universities,, polytechnics, colleges of
education and Innovations Enterprise Institutions
both private and public, across Nigeria, 566,641
were filled while 457,846 were unused.
The college’s of education had the highest number
of unused slots – 290,097 of 364,722.
Universities had 119,878 unused spaces (of
538,269) while polytechnics had 39,404 (of
112,437) and IEIs, 8,467 (of 9,059).

To address this problem of unused spaces,
Oloyede said JAMB will provide a virtual market
space for institutions to shop for students not
admitted by their first choice institutions.

He urged the Institutions to keep to the
admissions timetable to enable the seemless
coordination of the process.
“If any institution does not do it’s admission on
time, we will withdraw the names of the students
and we will transfer them to the market place
where others can pick them.

When are doing First Choice admission, do your
own even if you are not ready to resume,” he
said.
In his speech the Education Minister, Adamu
Adamu, urged managers of the tertiary institutions
to be transparent in carrying out their duties,
noting that he had evidence of underhand
dealings of some managers.

“Please let the qualities of transparency, honesty,
sincerity, equity, loyalty, and commitment to nation
building be our guiding principles. We should be
dissuaded from doing any official business under
the table. heads of tertiary institutions are
encouraged to institutionalised the qualities
enumerated above.

“A lot of revelations laced with observed lapses
and documentary evidence have been brought to
my attention. We have extensively consulted on
the way forward and I therefore urge each
institution to abide by the regulations,” he said.

“Some of you carry out your duties with full
understanding and knowledge that some of your
actions cannot stand the test of integrity, as some
of the infractions you endorse and approve are
irregular,” he warned.

He urged all stakeholders to ‘ensure compliance
with all Policy Directives in the interest of the
Nation’s educational development’ adding that
violations of these guidelines would not be
tolerated as appropriate sanctions would be meted
against violators.’’

In his welcome address, the Pro Chancellor,
University of Lagos Dr. Wale Babalakin, who gave
out the newly constructed 4,000-seater facility to
JAMB free of charge, said he provided the space
for intellectual discourse.

“This project was motivated by the desire to
provide an environment conducive to serious
intellectual work. It is our fervent believe that
Nigeria will only achieve its full potential when the
aggregate of our intellectual capacity is developed
and harnessed appropriately,” he said.
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