On page 12 of the Punch Newspaper of October 13, it was reported that Registrar of JAMB, Mr Ishaq Oloyede said “Reduction of examination fee is one of the options but it is not as attractive to me as it was at the beginning”. Why this change? His view changed because some parents thought to be poor were found to have spent millions of Naira to cut corners as regards the last UTME examinations.
While I see no point disagreeing with him that agencies like JAMB should not be funded by the government, I see a lot of wrong in overcharging parents! Why should every parent pay for the crime of a few! This is beyond robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is taking food from the hungry and giving to the over fed!
With the few statistics in the public domain, JAMB has been collecting more than 50% of what it requires to function! While Nigerians would be eternally grateful for whatever transparency, sound financial management, prudence and godliness which led to JAMB paying over N5b to the coffers of the Federal Government as extra revenue over expenditure (or profit) after the last examination, we need to realise that if we use 1,736,571 (number of candidates who bought forms) as the denominator and N5b (excess of revenue over expenditure) as numerator, it simply means that the parents of these children have been overcharged by at least N2,879! This of course is more than 50% of the N5,500 charged for collection of form!
JAMB should know that while Mr Smart may fool some people all the time, all the people some of the time, he should know that he cannot fool ALL the people ALL the time! JAMB craftily collects N2,500 for change of course / university (even though they have profited more than that from initial sale of forms).
JAMB made it impossible to select private institutions as first choice initially. Once a child is considered for admission by a private university, it is mandatory to go back to JAMB platform and make the admitting private university his / her new first choice! By this scheme, JAMB, though adding no value, is richer by N2,500 for a mere computer alteration that does not take a minute to effect by the candidate! Added to the initial form collection fee of N5,500, it simply means JAMB rakes in N8,000 from parents who can afford to send their children to the private universities. If you think that is all, you are joking. The schools would ask for JAMB admission letter. To get the letter, you must pay N1,000. Only God, JAMB and their bankers know how many hundreds of thousands of parents have paid and up till now are yet to get the printout! Please bear in mind that cost of paper and ink for printing is on parents! So, why won’t JAMB have excess money?
One of the reasons given for the initial high cost of JAMB forms was that there would not be post-JAMB payments to schools. How many universities collect less than N5,000 as post-JAMB fee?
The average parent is suffering and smiling and not because they are mumu (stupid) but because there is no choice if their children are to have tertiary education in Nigeria! If JAMB is really set to improve to world standard, the registrar and his team would need to flee from the temptation of becoming another Revenue Agent to the Federal Government. While this may win JAMB leaders some pockets of encomiums, and possibly political advantage, it would not be for a long time.
If however, Oloyede wants to have his way, as a religion scholar, the story of Rehoboam should not be strange to him. The young successor of King Solomon was entreated by his subjects to reduce the tax burden placed on them by his father. Elders counselled him to oblige them so as to have their loyalty forever. Rehoboam however took the counsel of his peers who encouraged him to even threaten to add to the people’s burden. What happened? He lost authority over 11 tribes and was left with only the tribe of Judah to rule!
If Mr Obafemi Awolowo had the attitude of taking education beyond the reach of the poor (as many of the beneficiaries are doing), he would long have been forgotten! That is why I know the current hardship in the land cannot be forever. The poor may not have the power that riches bequeath. But I pray and believe a day is coming when their say will matter in the way they are governed as they congregate and sing, “our mumu don do”!
