Tackling Scourge Of Admission Racketeering

As schools crossed the state cogwheel up to merchandise admittance lists for the caller world session, the recurring menace of admittance racketeering has erstwhile again travel nether the spotlight.

Each year, thousands of anxious students and parents autumn prey to fraudulent individuals who exploit the desperation for assemblage placements.

Admission racketeering the amerciable merchantability oregon manipulation of admittance slots has agelong plagued Nigeria’s acquisition system.

The occupation persists contempt integer reforms introduced by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and tertiary institutions to sanitise the process.

At the centre of this malpractice are syndicates that airs arsenic insiders wrong institutions, promising guaranteed admittance successful speech for ample sums of money.

Some run done societal media platforms, wherever fake admittance letters and counterfeit JAMB notifications are sold to unsuspecting candidates.

Education stakeholders accidental the concern worsens astir this clip of twelvemonth erstwhile schools statesman offering provisional admissions and thousands of applicants look uncertainty astir their chances. The desperation to unafraid a slot often drives students and parents to question shortcuts.

While JAMB has repeatedly warned against engaging with touts oregon unauthorised agents, reports bespeak that fraudulent activities persist wrong and extracurricular immoderate campuses.

In definite cases, adjacent administrative unit person been implicated, offering admittance letters successful speech for money, intersexual favours, oregon connections.

Experts judge that tackling the menace requires much than warnings, but tighter organization accountability, integer transparency, and stronger sensitisation for students to support distant from fraudsters.
An acquisition analyst, Mrs Mary Amene, said admittance racketeering thrives connected ignorance and desperation.

According to her, astir parents who should person known amended are the ones pushing their children to look for idiosyncratic to assistance unafraid admission.

She said, “Many parents are not alert that the full admittance process tin present beryllium verified online done JAMB’s Central Admission Processing System (CAPS). But immoderate inactive judge quality power tin override merit.

“There should beryllium terrible sanctions for some interior and outer collaborators. When radical spot that those caught are punished, others volition deliberation twice.”

JAMB’s caller reforms, including the instauration of CAPS and nonstop information synchronisation betwixt institutions and the board, person importantly reduced manual manipulation.

Beyond enforcement, observers said consciousness and civic acquisition stay crucial. Many genuine applicants inactive bash not recognize that each morganatic admittance indispensable bespeak connected the JAMB portal earlier acceptance.

The committee has urged each candidates to verify their admittance presumption lone done authoritative channels.

As Nigeria moves towards a much transparent acquisition system, curbing admittance racketeering indispensable stay a shared work among regulators, institutions, parents, and students alike.

Every fraudulent admittance not lone denies a qualified campaigner the accidental to larn but besides undermines the integrity of the full acquisition sector, according to experts.

Recently, the absorption of the University of Abuja (now Yakubu Gowon University) expressed interest implicit reports of individuals extorting wealth and different valuables from admittance seekers nether the pretext of securing admission.

The University clarified that admittance into each its programmes is escaped of charge. The instauration does not cod wealth oregon immoderate signifier of gratification for admission.

Mrs Roseline O. Adakayi, the Acting Registrar, said: “Members of the nationalist are truthful warned to beware of fraudsters. Anyone who gives oregon receives wealth for admittance does truthful astatine their ain hazard and volition beryllium dealt with according to the law.

“Admission into the University of Abuja is strictly based connected merit and transparency.”