By Msonter Anzaa
Seeking admission into any university in Nigeria is a Herculean task which candidates perform yearly with anxiety. This is rightly so because not many of them become successful thereby escaping another compulsory round of the annual unending and ineffective ritual. I shall take a little bite at the history of the crisis, its causes and probable solutions in succeeding paragraphs.
In 1978 when people started sitting for the Universities Matriculation Examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, getting a university admission was relatively easy. Perhaps this was so because not many people went to school or because the society still retained some level of transparency. All one needed do was do well in the examination. As we know, there was no wide internet usage then. At the end of the process, a list of successful candidates would be displayed on a notice board. The question then was not whether one got admission or not but whether one passed the UME or not. There were no post-UME or aptitude tests then. And candidates did not have to “know” someone at the universities of their choices. Instead these universities would process the admission request and send the candidate his\her the admission letter via mail. Everything went on that way until lately when universities introduced what we now call aptitude test. Under the current system, success in the UME alone does not mean much. And most times especially in competitive courses, even success in the post-UME test conducted by the university is no guarantee for admission. Bribery tribalism and nepotism have taken over the conduct of admissions into universities. To be successful, a candidate has to “know” someone in authority, either in government or in the university hierarchy. We now hear of the VC’s, governor’s, state assembly speaker’s lists e.t.c “Merit” in these circumstances also includes being able to put one’s name on the list of the power brokers or university “owners”.
