Perhaps the time has come for the Federal Government to subject the activities of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to closer scrutiny and oversight. Such intervention has become imperative to prevent the growing trend of denying qualified Nigerians access to higher education on the basis of arbitrary and poorly conceived regulations.
Over the years, JAMB has earned commendation for improving transparency and remitting unprecedented revenues into the national treasury. Former President Muhammadu Buhari publicly acknowledged the remarkable financial stewardship of the board under the leadership of Professor Ishaq Oloyede, noting that no previous registrar had achieved comparable results. Yet, institutional success must never become a licence for administrative excess. Unfortunately, the board now appears increasingly emboldened to introduce policies that conflict with the constitutional rights and educational aspirations of Nigerian citizens.
Almost every admission cycle comes with a fresh layer of regulations, often introduced without adequate public enlightenment, only to become instruments for excluding otherwise qualified applicants from pursuing higher education. At this rate, one fears that applicants may someday be required to produce the birth certificates of their great-grandparents before being considered eligible for admission.
The latest and perhaps most troubling example concerns university and polytechnic graduates seeking admission into undergraduate programmes through direct entry. JAMB now insists that such applicants must produce the original admission letters it allegedly issued for their earlier academic programmes.
This policy is not only unreasonable; it is historically and administratively flawed.
Many Nigerians gained admission into tertiary institutions before JAMB began regulating admissions in certain sectors. For instance, one affected applicant secured admission to study Architecture at the Federal Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, in 1980 and graduated in 1985. Yet JAMB did not assume responsibility for regulating admissions into polytechnics until 1989. Today, this individual seeks to advance academically by obtaining university and postgraduate degrees necessary for a full professional qualification as an architect. How exactly is he expected to produce a JAMB admission letter that never existed?
Similarly, many applicants undertook part-time studies or other programmes outside JAMB’s admission framework. Others who graduated over four decades ago may understandably have misplaced documents issued many years earlier. To deny such citizens access to further education because of bureaucratic technicalities is both unjust and oppressive.
More disturbing is the fact that these additional requirements are often absent from JAMB’s official admission advertisements and public notices.
Applicants only discover the new conditions after paying non-refundable fees and commencing the registration process. Such conduct raises serious legal and ethical questions. It is fundamentally unfair for an agency of government to impose hidden requirements after collecting money from citizens.
Even more alarming are reports that some officials within the Board are contemplating the introduction of an upper age limit for admission into tertiary institutions. If true, such a proposal would represent a dangerous assault on the fundamental right to education and lifelong learning. Neither JAMB nor even the National Assembly possesses the moral authority to place arbitrary barriers on the educational aspirations of Nigerians.
The obvious question, therefore, is: why is this admission letter suddenly indispensable?
One official reportedly claimed that the document is required for “harmonisation purposes.” But if JAMB has maintained proper records since its establishment in 1978, why should innocent applicants suffer because the Board cannot effectively manage or retrieve its own archives? It is unconscionable for citizens to bear the consequences of institutional inefficiency.
To be clear, the Federal Government officially recognises 16 years as the minimum age for admission into tertiary institutions, a policy repeatedly affirmed by the Minister of Education and enforced through JAMB’s Central Admissions Processing System. While exceptionally gifted children may receive consideration under strict guidelines, the principle remains one of access, not exclusion.
However, there is—and should never be—an upper age limit to education.
Education is a lifelong pursuit, not a privilege reserved for the young alone. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo returned to the university after leaving office at over 70 years of age. The Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness Muhammadu Sanusi II, enrolled to study Law at the age of 65. A former board member of the Nigeria Football Federation matriculated at the University of Ibadan to study Law at 71. The former Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Dr Dayo Duyile, earned a PhD in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos at 82. The late Sam Mbakwe also obtained a doctorate well into his 70s. The list is endless.
These examples demonstrate that intellectual pursuit knows no age barrier. JAMB must not be allowed to extinguish the legitimate ambitions and lifelong dreams of Nigerians through needless bureaucratic obstacles and exclusionary policies.
The Federal Government must, therefore, intervene decisively to ensure that JAMB remains an institution that facilitates educational advancement rather than one that frustrates it. Access to education is not a favour bestowed by bureaucrats; it is a fundamental right that must be protected for every Nigerian citizen, regardless of age or circumstance.
Chris Uba is the publisher of Public Sphere
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