Four UTME/JAMB candidates die in road crash in Rivers State

Sweating through the UTME/JAMB exam: A nightmare for both candidates and administrators

On 18 June, four candidates travelling to sit for the UTME/JAMB examination holding all over the country died in an accident on the Ahoada-Abua road in Rivers State.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the victims were travelling from Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, to their examination centres in Abua, Rivers State, when the accident occurred at about 6.30a.m.

Witnesses said an on-coming taxi cab, overtaking another vehicle, lost control and smashed into the commercial motorcycles that were conveying the candidates to their examination centres. They said the bodies of the victims had been deposited in the mortuary at the General Hospital in Abua.

NAN reports that when contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in Rivers State, ASP Ben Ugwuegbulam, confirmed the deaths and said two persons had also been admitted in Teme Clinic, Port Harcourt, both in critical conditions.

The UTME/JAMB examination is a huge examination for candidates seeking admission to universities and polytechnics in Nigeria. Its conduct annually, is usually a logistics nightmare. According to the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Dibu Ojerinde, this year’s examination involves 1.4million candidates (almost the population of Gabon) and over 55,000 officials – coordinators, supervisors, invigilators, attendants etc – plus an unknown number of security personnel.

For the candidates, the examination is also a nightmare. Only 16 per cent of them (about one out of every six) can be offered places in the nation’s universities and polytechnics, due to limitations in the carrying capacity of the institutions. For each university, that capacity is fixed by the National Universities Commission (NUC), taking into considering such factors as availability of academic staff and existing infrastructure. For instance, in 2010, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka had 7,000 qualified candidates to study medicine, but only 150 admission slots!

Global body to study administration of Nigerian Customs Service

Mr ABDULLAHI DIKKO, Comptroller-General, NCS

On 17 February, the Secretary-General of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Mr Kunio Mikuriya, disclosed that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has been selected by the global body as a case study for research on modern customs administration.

Mr Mikuriya, a Japanese, said this at the office of the  Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie, as he began a working visit to Nigeria. He said WCO was seeking collaboration with the NUC in developing programmes for the project.

Mikuriya explained that the research initiative was in line with the WCO’s theme for 2011, which focuses on knowledge enhancement in all customs organs worldwide. The WCO scribe had, during this year’s World Customs Day in January, advocated enhanced knowledge acquisition among customs organs. He urged the NUC to also develop Customs-specific programmes in Nigerian universities, so as to produce professional Customs administrators who will drive the law enforcement organ to greater heights in future.

Professor Okojie commended the WCO’s initiative, explaining that: “NUC is ready to collaborate with any organ in the development of academic programmes”. He said he would immediately set up a committee to liaise with the Customs body in fashioning the programmes.

Speaking on the development, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Abdullahi Dikko Inde, described it as “a new chapter of knowledge in the history of the Nigeria Customs”. He disclosed that already, the Customs had just established an international strategic institute in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory, with the aim of expanding knowledge by training its officers in modern customs administration. He thanked the WCO for selecting the NCS for the research project and said he was also enthusiastic to collaborate with the NUC in developing programmes that would benefit the NCS and the Nigerian nation.

The World Customs Organisation (WCO), a 179-member nations’ body, is the only inter-governmental organisation that exclusively focuses on Customs matters. With its worldwide membership, the organisation is now recognised as the voice of the global Customs community. It is particularly noted for its work in areas covering the development of global standards, the simplification and harmonisation of Customs procedures and trade supply chain security.

Its other roles include the facilitation of international trade, the enhancement of Customs enforcement and compliance activities, anti-counterfeiting and piracy initiatives, public-private partnerships, integrity promotion, and sustainable global Customs capacity-building programmes.