Failing the future: Nigeria’s education under admission strain

For many young Nigerians, gaining university admission has become a test of endurance rather than ability. As applications surge and available slots shrink, dreams are deferred and frustration grows across the nation.

This is worsen by the fact that most times, the admission slots are reserved for the highest bidder, and not for those who are qualified.

Many tertiary institutions’ managers have turned admission into a ‘gold mine’ ripping off parents and students of their resources, as this concerned parent’s encounter with an university registrar, who was trying to help his child complete his admission process unveils.

“My son, currently in 400-level Medicine and Surgery scored 333 in JAMB but his name did not even appear on the admission list. I was later told by the institution that, my son could be offered Micro Biology. “I told the registrar of the institution point blank that, “I have spent hugely several millions of naira to get my son to this point of entry (PoE) to become a medical doctor and not to become a Biology teacher through her offer of Micro Biology.”

According to the concerned parent, the registrar was so mean that she simply told him, “We are very sorry, Micro Biology is the best we can offer your son.”

At this Juncture, the man said, he proceeded to JAMB headquarters in Abuja to meet with Oloyede who swiftly asked for my son’s JAMB details, punched these details into his laptop and everything concerning the university came up on his screen.

According to the narrative, Oloyede said, “Please go back home and sleep with your two eyes closed. From what I am seeing on my screen, your son is number three on the list of Medicine and Surgery of this institution with a JAMB score of 333 which comes behind two other JAMB scores of 348 and 334 respectively.

Unfortunately, none of these candidates, including your son (that is JAMB score 348, 334 and 333) made the admission list.”

Oloyede, he said, continued, when he said, in sane countries, this institution should have sent the college driver with an official vehicle to go and fetch your son from Ekiti to campus having projected himself into the merit list of this institution but unfortunately, the endemic corruption in these institutions will just not allow them to follow due process.”

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Oloyede put a call through to the vice-chancellor of the university in the presence of the concerned parent, and set his phone on speaker and spoke angrily at the vice-chancellor, lamenting on the endemic corruption under his nose as it concerns university admission.

On hearing what transpired between the university’s registrar and concerned parent’s son’s admission saga, the vice-chancellor apologised to Oloyede, claiming that what just happened was an error of oversight on the part of his management team and promised that he will personally ensure the error of oversight was corrected.

According to the story, within 24 hours of that conversation between the JAMB registrar, and the vice-chancellor, the concerned parent checked his son’s university’s admission portal and discovered his name has been included as number three on the admission list while the names of the other candidates that scored 348 and 334 also appeared on the admission list as number one and two respectively.

“The good news in all of these is that, my son that would have been criminally denied admission ab-initio now tops his class with a G.P.A of 4.85,” the concerned parent narrated.

Some months ago, an university staff was caught on camera demanding N16,000 from new students, hence, monetizing admissions into the institution.

Besides, there are incidents of mismanagement of billions of naira in educational funds, which paints a grim picture of a sector in crisis.

These are not isolated cases but symptoms of a deeper malaise that demands urgent action.

Corruption in education manifests in various forms: from “sorting” grades for cash to siphoning off funds meant for student welfare, even parents are involved in this act of corruption because they pay for so called miracle or special centres for their children to write examinations as well as offer cash incentives for admissions into tertiary institutions.

The economic implications are staggering. Education is the bedrock of human capital development, yet corruption produces graduates ill-equipped for a modern economy. Nigeria ranks 152nd on the UN Human Development Index, with the highest number of out-of-school children globally, a crisis worsened by misallocated resources.

Poor educational outcomes fuel unemployment, currently estimated at over 16 percent, driving poverty and crime. The devaluation of Nigerian degrees, tainted by fraud, discourages foreign investment and limits global competitiveness, potentially costing the nation 37 percent of its GDP by 2030 if unchecked.

Nigeria’s education system can be a catalyst for economic growth, but only if corruption is uprooted. The government, institutions, and citizens must unite to demand transparency and reject complicity.