Article: JAMB MUST STOP THIS MADNESS

JAMB MUST STOP THIS MADNESS

For fear of having the powers that be victimize me and because I intend to be blunt in this article, I would rather be anonymous. I am a Jambite who is greatly angered by JAMB with their unpopular policy of choosing or should I say, forcing schools on people. Honestly speaking I am writing in a fit of apoplexy.

I am the first son of a widow. My father who was a bus driver with a renowned transport company in the country died in a ghastly motor accident. I was twelve when he passed on. Growing up, although daddy was hardly around, we had everything we needed. If not for anything, at least I was in a very good and expensive school when he was alive. Although the transport company tried making things a lot easier for my mum and his four children when my father died, four years after that we were totally forgotten. I don’t blame them that much because their business started dwindling two years after dad’s death. As much as I won’t want to bore you with the story of my life, the truth is that we started feeding from hand to mouth when my father died.

With the entitlement my mother was paid, she started the business of selling cloths. Considering the state of things then, my mum did not think twice before she moved I and my siblings to a public school; it dawned on her that she needed to cut down on expenditure. Our food which was always studded with meat and fish seldom saw a piece of meat after daddy’s burial­­­­^_____ that was the part that we hated then most. Having given a little about my background let me go straight to the matter at hand.

Recently, JAMB came up with a policy which, to yours truly, is barbaric, callous and totally unacceptable. I mean, where in the world are people forced to accept things which are not their choice? This is like the proverbial saying of taking a horse to a river, only that in this case Ojerinde and co are trying to force the horse to drink from the river. Of course I understand that this policy came up as a result of their desire to balance things and ensure that a greater number of people got admission this year; caution, should however be their watchword. You don’t do things because you think you can do them. In my opinion, for JAMB to go ahead in choosing schools for Jambites would tantamount to gross injustice on the part of the candidates. It is, in short, an impediment on people’s freedom of choice. Honestly, I don’t see any sense in this unpopular policy.

Sometimes when these men and women that we think should know better make policies and decisions you can’t help but think they are reasoning from their anus. Come to think of it, JAMB came out some weeks ago to tell us that for degree award institutions their cut off mark is 180 while that of polytechnics and colleges of education should be 150. Why would they now wake up to implement a policy that has kept not just Jambites but also their parents on their toes? A friend of mine told me that this policy of shipping people to schools which they hitherto did not apply is determined by their JAMB scores. They also told us that it was because too many people applied certain schools. I want to remind Mr. Dibu of an English expression that says, “The more the merrier.” For crying out loud, allow us to go and slug it out. Let’s struggle for the limited space and at the end those who did not make it would be happy that at least they where allowed to fight. For the record, that you scored higher than me in JAMB doesn’t mean you would do the same in PUTME. It doesn’t even me that you’re more intelligent than I am.

It is totally wrong for Joint Admission and Matriculation Board to be the ones deciding the school that XYZ candidate should be posted to. They had already done that by reducing the number of university choices which Jambites used to have to one. Dibu Ojerinde, why take that choice away from us now? You should rather pay attention in cutting down the cost of university education especially in these private universities that I heard you’re planning to ship people into. In fact, just like NANS said some days ago, I also think you have taken bribe. Tell us, Ojerinde, how much did they pay you?

This policy would have been a welcomed development if things are equal (or at least near equal) in the universities we have in this country. How can I: the first son of a widow who is finding it difficult to feed afford the tuition fee that most of these other universities pay? Just imagine, I bought JAMB form, applied to study Law in UNN. God knows that I studied all night, wrote JAMB and scored 236 only to wake up to see that JAMB has hit me with a sledge hammer. Honestly, if I end up being among those that would be forced against their will to go to these XYZ universities where people pay through their nose; Ojerinde, if you try it with me, God knows that the thunder that will fire you and your generation is still doing press up! Allow us to go to our choice of institution and take our chances. “You pays your money and you takes your chance,” that’s an English expression. Dibu, check the meaning if you don’t understand it.

Another disadvantage of this stupid policy is that it came at the wrong time. For crying out loud, we have taken time to prepare for the Post UTME screening of the respective schools that we applied. I, for one, took time to go through UNN Post UTME past questions and answers from 2005 till date. Yes, I made use of the preparatory booklet they call Total Victory Solution Set. So, if you now ask me to go and write post UTME elsewhere at this eleventh hour, that would disorganize me.

I started this write up by giving a hint of where I’m coming from^_____ my background. My late father (God bless his memory) loved education. He had always told me that one day I would be his Lawyer. And before God who made me, I have struggled on empty stomach to come this far. My mother is there at the shop where she sells clothes hoping that I would make it to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, but Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, in his cosy office, has decided to put a road block on my way. Although I don’t know where the tide would go but the spirit of my late father, I’m sure, would come after JAMB if at the end I’m among those who would be transported to God knows which expensive private university.

Prof. Dibu Ojerinde and his bunch of short sighted allies should know that it’s not all about being given admission; it’s about being able to pay the tuition fee. It’s also about being happy in the environment where you find yourself. Quote me anywhere, Dibu, with the way he’s going, would end up breeding unhappy undergraduates. Yes, they are in school but they are not happy. This, I’m sure, will have a couple of negative ripple effect.

People would rather be happy that they tried their choice but at the end, due to stiff competition, it didn’t work out. If JAMB does not put an end to this madness it would leave a lot of young people mad!

I have said my mind. QED.

Written by Anonymous.

If you have write ups/articles for publication, please send to [email protected].