Thousands of Nigerian graduates from various universities have found themselves in a nightmarish limbo as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) recently declared their academic admissions “fake,” abruptly halting their mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The shocking development, which came to light in April 2024, has affected over 14,000 students who were preparing for the NYSC Batch B Stream 1 mobilisation. The affected graduates, many of whom had already completed their degrees and appeared on JAMB’s matriculation list, were stunned when their Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) records were abruptly locked, with “fake admission” displayed on their portals.
Universities caught in the web of this crisis include prominent institutions such as Ambrose Alli University, Imo State University, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Calabar, University of Benin, Federal University of Technology Akure, Lagos State University, Kwara State University, and Edo State University, Iyamho.
“I took the UTME and got into school through proper channels,” lamented one of the affected graduates. “But my admission came directly from my school, not through JAMB. We’ve been submitting our names for regularisation for years. When we went to JAMB state offices, they sent us back to our schools, which claimed to have fulfilled all requirements. We were left in the middle, helpless.”
Another distraught graduate added, “We paid for the regularisation process ourselves. It was the lawful procedure back then. JAMB even placed our names on their matriculation list. But just days before mobilisation, our admission status was suddenly labelled fake. It’s heartbreaking.”
For many of these young Nigerians, the consequences are devastating: they cannot proceed with their NYSC service—a prerequisite for many employment opportunities—nor can they pursue further education or scholarships. Some are now dependent on their parents, feeling like a burden rather than proud graduates ready to contribute to society.
“How can we be punished for something we didn’t cause?” asked one frustrated graduate. “We’re victims of a broken system. We deserve compassion, not condemnation.”
Attempts to seek redress have only deepened the agony. Graduates report being shuffled between JAMB offices and their universities, with no clear resolution. Some even travelled to Abuja in desperation, only to be met with vague explanations about “cyber criminals” infiltrating the JAMB platform and being apprehended.
Responding to SaharaReporters, JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, placed the blame squarely on institutions for offering what he described as “illegal admissions.”
“By law, a student must be admitted through JAMB,” he stated. “They must write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), choose their institution, and receive official clearance. Any admission done outside this framework is illegal and not recognised by JAMB.”
Dr Benjamin added that although JAMB previously allowed a window for candidates to regularise such irregular admissions, that window has now been permanently shut.
“We’ve had over 250,000 cases in the past, and we made arrangements with institutions to address this. But we cannot keep validating unlawful admissions. The era of backdoor entry into Nigerian universities is over,” he declared.
He also stressed that academic standards must be upheld. “Not everyone qualifies to be in the classroom. Regularisation is not a loophole—it’s a one-time correctional process. Going forward, we’re enforcing strict adherence to guidelines.”
Despite JAMB’s stance, affected graduates are appealing for urgent intervention, particularly from the Ministry of Education and the Presidency. They insist that their future should not be sacrificed because of institutional failures.
“We fulfilled our duties. We studied, graduated, and waited for our turn to serve the nation,” one graduate from Ambrose Alli University said. “We are pleading with JAMB to reconsider. We want to serve our country. We want to move on with our lives.”
For now, thousands of young Nigerians remain in limbo—trapped by a broken system and clinging to the hope that justice will prevail.
PIONEER NEWS 