By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Reporter
CONFUSION ENGULFED Nigerian campuses in April 2024 after the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) boldly flagged long-standing university admissions as “fake”, cutting off graduates from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) just days before mobilisation.
The move left an estimated 14,000 graduates across institutions like Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Lagos State University (LASU), University of Benin (UNIBEN), and Imo State University (ISU) unable to proceed with NYSC Batch B Stream 1, despite appearing on JAMB’s matriculation list and having completed their studies.
JAMB’s Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), began locking out records, replacing students verified profiles with the “fake admission” tag.
Many of the affected had undergone the official regularisation process, paid required fees, and received confirmation of their legitimacy.
Now, they say they have been cast aside without warning or remedy.
“We are victims and deserve to be treated as such,” said one graduate. “We cannot go for NYSC, further our education, or move on with our lives.”
Dozens of students recounted visiting state JAMB offices on JAMB’s instruction, only to be redirected to their schools. Some travelled as far as Abuja seeking answers.
They say they were told cybercriminals had infiltrated the admissions system and were later arrested, but no resolution has followed.
“JAMB released a memo during our final year, asking us to complete our regularisation at the state office,” one graduate said.
“We weren’t informed the process had changed. We paid and got listed on the matriculation list. Now we’re locked out and told it’s ‘fake’.”
Institutions affected span both state and federal levels, including the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Edo State University (EDU), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), and University of Calabar (UNICAL).
Many of the students claim their original admission came through their schools and not via direct JAMB CAPS offers—a common practice years ago.
JAMB’s Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, confirmed the board no longer condones admissions outside its structured process.
“The process of admission, as stated by the law, is that a candidate writes JAMB, chooses an institution, and then the institution admits him through JAMB,” he said. “If a student gets admission through the back door… we can’t give him an admission letter.”
According to Dr Benjamin, while JAMB had previously worked with institutions to approve such irregular admissions via regularisation, the window for this has now closed.
He said over 250,000 students were affected in past years but insisted that academic integrity and minimum entry requirements must be upheld.
“We cannot continue to allow students who do not meet the basic requirements to enter the classrooms,” he stated.
Graduates, particularly from Ambrose Alli University (AAU), are pleading for swift government and institutional intervention.
With academic records frozen, admission letters revoked, and mobilisation blocked, many say their futures are stalled indefinitely.
For now, their academic journeys remain suspended—caught between a system they followed and a process that has now turned its back on them, the affected students lament.
