The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has expressed confidence that the 2019 registration of candidates for its UTME will be a huge success.
JAMB spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that the process had commenced nationwide.
“Registration of candidates for this year’s examination has commenced in earnest in all accredited Computer Based Test (CBT) centres nationwide.
“Today alone, I will say that the registration of candidates in Abuja, for instance, witnessed a massive turn out.
“It is as if the registration wanted to end today and I think it is a good beginning.
“We are anticipating a smooth exercise from start to finish as we have put all the necessary things in place to achieve that.
“However, that is not to say that there will not be some small technical issues in some other centres in different parts of the country being the first day of the registration.
“We took all that into consideration and that is why we have our technical experts fully on ground in each of these centres to immediately tackle them.
“We are confident that as we progress, the process will get better and better,” he said.
NAN correspondent that visited the WAEC International Office, one of the accredited centres, reports that there was a low turnout of candidates for the registration.
One of the candidates at the centre, Itohowo Okin, told NAN that he got to the centre as early as 9:00 a.m. but was unable to register because of technical hitches.
Okin said he was advised by some of the officials at the centre to go home and return the next day.
Samuel Okon-Akpan, also a prospective candidate, told NAN that he also went through the same experience as Okin but that he was optimistic the exercise would turn out smooth.
“I know this is just the first day of registration and I am not really surprised at this development.
“I am sure that JAMB has done its home work well before embarking on this and so I am hopeful that the whole process concerning this examination will be a huge success,” he said.
Oladele Olakusibe, also told NAN that she was confident of a smooth exercise by JAMB as the acquisition of her e-pin for the registration was seemless.
Meanwhile, a source at the centre, who preferred anonymity, said that the centre was fully ready for all the processes of the examination.
“We are actually fully prepared for not just the registration, but the mock and the examination proper.
“The computers and the back ups are in good form and we are good to go.
“However, today being the first day of registration, we have been witnessing some technical hitches and as a result, we have succeeded in registering just two candidates.
“These things are, however, not entirely new with processes such as this but again, thankfully we have technical experts who are already ensuring that they are tackled in no time.
“There are usually teething challenges that are usually associated with early registration but of course in no time everything will turn out well,” the source said.
According to the source, the WAEC International Office has also launched its new CBT centre in Benin, Edo, with the kick off of the 2019 registration.
The source noted that the centre was equipped with 660 computers with back ups, as well as other class facilities.
