By Msonter Anzaa
Seeking admission into any university in Nigeria is a Herculean task which candidates perform yearly with anxiety. This is rightly so because not many of them become successful thereby escaping another compulsory round of the annual unending and ineffective ritual. I shall take a little bite at the history of the crisis, its causes and probable solutions in succeeding paragraphs.
In 1978 when people started sitting for the Universities Matriculation Examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, getting a university admission was relatively easy. Perhaps this was so because not many people went to school or because the society still retained some level of transparency. All one needed do was do well in the examination. As we know, there was no wide internet usage then. At the end of the process, a list of successful candidates would be displayed on a notice board. The question then was not whether one got admission or not but whether one passed the UME or not. There were no post-UME or aptitude tests then. And candidates did not have to “know” someone at the universities of their choices. Instead these universities would process the admission request and send the candidate his\her the admission letter via mail. Everything went on that way until lately when universities introduced what we now call aptitude test. Under the current system, success in the UME alone does not mean much. And most times especially in competitive courses, even success in the post-UME test conducted by the university is no guarantee for admission. Bribery tribalism and nepotism have taken over the conduct of admissions into universities. To be successful, a candidate has to “know” someone in authority, either in government or in the university hierarchy. We now hear of the VC’s, governor’s, state assembly speaker’s lists e.t.c “Merit” in these circumstances also includes being able to put one’s name on the list of the power brokers or university “owners”.
One may wonder why it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure university admission. I attribute this difficulty to some strange developments in our national life. First, as the usefulness of education took predominance in the life of the nation, people wrongly thought the certificate to be the ultimate achievement. So they threw away genuine quest for knowledge and skill development in their craze for certificates. Then those who could hardly identify their names even after those names have already been spelt out for them, bought good grades with their money power and suddenly, they rushed to the doors of our universities seeking admission. When this army of certificate buyers invaded the UME, it lost its relevance and the universities thought up the aptitude test. This one too is desperately not transparent, having been invaded again by grade hawkers. A combination of genuine candidates and these certificate makers is what presently forms the crowd of admission seekers.
Second, something went wrong with our value system along the way. Our public servants developed a very corrupt mentality that will sooner than later consume us all. All of them started looking for compulsory subsidiary interests in the duties they were paid to discharge. This culture has assumed a suffocating dimension today. If you submit an application to any office today, the clerk who should take the file to the boss will lose it, if you don’t drop a “kola” or “pure water”. This culture has eaten even into authorities in our universities. Some of them now auction admission offers. The highest bidder wins. So those candidates who don’t or rather can’t play ball, cut corner or rub backs, cannot qualify for admission into any university except if the unexpected happens.
In an attempt to provide solutions to this admission crisis, many arguments have been made. First, people have called for the expansion of our public universities and this means government must commit UNESCO’s 26 percent of the annual budget to education. Second, the JAMB has now unified its matriculation exams to enable candidates choose two universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. It is hoped that those who fail at the university and polytechnic levels would succeed at the college of education level. This would then drastically reduce the number of candidates staying out of school. Fine. Some counselors have also advised candidates to attend the polytechnics or colleges of education and not to insist on going to university through the UME. Their chances of success are broader at the latter levels than at the university since there are fewer universities. But tell me, all the candidates seeking university admission are qualified or at least, their results suggest so. Who then do you want to offend by asking the other to wait till the following year or to go to a college of education? Now, I consider it an insult and I know many people do for anyone to suggest that I attend a less important tertiary institution than a fellow candidate just because I can’t or don’t subscribe to the back door process. To make such a suggestion is to institutionalize corruption and inequality. It is also to discriminate against the rest of us who are less significant for no offence of ours but where we come from. And this discrimination will turn us into an army with common emotional peculiarities, fighting a common enemy.
To conclude, transparency, fairness and accountability must be the three guiding principles for those who conduct admissions into our public universities. And our governments at all levels must provide a level playing ground rich in opportunities where all people can pursue success and true happiness.
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