By Oyinkansayo Wole-Bodunde.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has concluded arrangements to fully automate its services to prevent extortion and enhance service delivery.
According to the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, this decision is crucial, especially since many Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates are underage.
As stated in the board’s bulletin on its website, Prof. Oloyede explained that limiting physical contact would address issues of extortion and exploitation. “Prof. Oloyede stated that given that many of the candidates who take the UTME are underage, the board is considering limiting physical contact with those with challenges to avoid any alleged issues of extortion and other forms of exploitation.”
He added that interactions would soon be limited to online ones, with calls recorded for effective monitoring and quality control.
JAMB has received reports of corrupt practices and has deployed a team to investigate these claims. The board urged students who accused JAMB officials and other operatives, such as Computer-Based Test (CBT) centers, of extortion in the name of ‘regularization’ or other services, to provide credible evidence.
Meanwhile, Prof. Oloyede commended JAMB staff for their honesty and diligence, saying, “In terms of honesty, I can vouch for over 99 percent of JAMB staff, but any bad eggs will be identified and dealt with appropriately.”
In a related development, a businesswoman, Mrs. Ifeanyi Eke, filed a N100m suit against JAMB and three others before the Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged inappropriate text messages sent to her 15-year-old daughter.
Joined as co-respondents in the suit are Island Computer College Limited, one Mr. Jibola, and Regina Bassey. On January 29, JAMB announced the arrest of some registration officers of a CBT centre in connection with a social media outburst by a mother who alleged that her 15-year-old daughter was being approached by a staff of the supposed centre via a chat on the X platform.
The mother through her lawyer, Olumide Babalola, asked the court for a declaration that the sending of unsolicited and inappropriate text messages to her daughter by Mr. Ajibola constituted an interference with her daughter’s right to private and family life guaranteed by Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution.
