The Warped University Admission System

By Dr Muyiwa Kayode

MY son, currently in 400 Level Medicine and Surgery, scored 333 in JAMB at the Point of Entry (PoE) when he applied for admission four years ago, but his name did not even APPEAR on the admission list. I was later told by the institution that my son could be offered Microbiology. I told the Registrar of the institution POINT BLANK, “I have spent HUGELY (several millions of Naira) to get my son to this PoE to become a Medical Doctor and not to become a Biology Teacher through her offer of Microbiology. This Registrar was so MEAN… She simply told me, we are very sorry, Microbiology is the BEST we can OFFER your son.

At this juncture, I proceeded to JAMB Headquarters, Abuja to meet with Prof. Oloyede who swiftly asked for my son’s JAMB details, punched these details into his laptop and everything concerning the university came up on his screen.

Prof. Oloyede said and I quote: “Dr Muyiwa Kayode, please go back home and sleep with your two eyes closed. From what I am seeing on my screen, your son is No.3 (Number 3) on the list of Medicine and Surgery at this institution with a JAMB score of 333 which comes behind two other JAMB scores of 348 and 334 respectively. Unfortunately, none of these chaps, including your son (i.e. JAMB Score 348, 334 and 333) made the Admission List”!

Prof. Oloyede continued and I quote: “Dr. Muyiwa Kayode, in sane countries, this Institution should have sent the College Driver with an official vehicle to go and fetch your son from Ekiti to campus having projected himself into the MERIT LIST of this institution but unfortunately, the endemic corruption in these institutions will just not allow them to follow due process”*

Right in my presence, Prof. Oloyede put a call through to the Vice Chancellor of this institution, setting his phone on speaker and spoke angrily at the Vice Chancellor, lamenting the endemic corruption under his nose as it concerns university admission. This Vice-Chancellor apologized to Prof. Oloyede saying what had just happened must have been an ERROR of OVERSIGHT on the part of his management team and promised Prof. Oloyede that he would personally ensure the error of oversight is corrected. 

Within 24 hrs of that conversation between Prof. Oloyede and the Vice Chancellor, my son checked the university’s admission portal and discovered his name had been INCLUDED as Number Three on the admission list while the names of the other chaps that scored 348 & 334 also appeared on the admission list as Number One and Number Two respectively.

The good news in all of these is that my son who would have been CRIMINALLY denied admission ab initio now TOPS his class with a G.P.A of 4.85

We need to fight every aspect of corruption in Nigeria.

• Dr Muyiwa Kayode narrates how Prof Oloyede tried to correct the warped system when he was JAMB Registrar. 

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