The oint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has promised that the country’s institutions would be sure to accept Nigerian students who were evacuated from the war-torn Sudan.
This was disclosed by the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, during a meeting with the head of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Tuesday in Abuja.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Oloyede expressed sympathy for the students and praised NIDCOM for handling their evacuation well, adding that JAMB will make sure the desired support was provided.
“What we will do is that we will provide the necessary infrastructure, the necessary enablement to make you accommodate or return these candidates (students) to our educational system,” Oloyede said.
However, the head of JAMB urged the students to avoid following in the footsteps of those who had returned to Nigeria over a year earlier as a result of the conflict in Ukraine but had declined to follow the prescribed procedures that would have ensured they could continue their academic programmes in Nigerian universities without interruption.
He said, “We must thank NIDCOM for making efforts that the students are brought into the Nigerian university system and we have given the Commission the process and procedure.
“There are procedures (for transfer of students); the transcript, the rules and regulations, and nobody should be any illusion believe that Nigerian university will award certificate with less than two years stay and residency in the university, and the procedure is done legitimately and properly with the cooperation of the National Universities Commission and the individual institution.
“The guideline from JAMB has already been handed over to the chairperson of the Commission.”
Explaining further on the issue of spending a minimum of two academic sessions for students who transferred to any Nigerian university, Oloyede said: “If you are doing a five-year programme, you will go to year four, because you are going to spend year 4 and year 5.
“For instance, if you are studying Medicine and you are in your 600 level, and if the Medical and Dental Council assesses what you have done; practical is okay, they will just move you to year 5, 500 level. You will do 500 level and 600 level, and you will have the certificate of the institution in Nigeria.”
NIDCOM Chairman Dabiri-Erewa stated that as of Tuesday, 1,730 Nigerians had left Sudan. She also noted that the majority of them are students anxious to complete their study in Nigeria as they wait for the war to end.
The head of NIDCOM reaffirmed that the required steps would be taken to reintegrate the impacted pupils into Nigerian schools.
She said, “The key thing is that there are processes to follow but they are not difficult processes and that is what we learnt from JAMB.
“The institutions are already saying they want to give support, they want to admit them but the key thing is to follow the process as stipulated by JAMB.
“All the information is in our website, process to follow, it should not be difficult to follow. The key thing is that JAMB has assured that it will provide the enabling environment and infrastructure, if, for instance, a university admits you, after the admission, you need to get that letter from JAMB that says you have been admitted, no matter what year; year 3, year 2, year 4, and I think that it is the most important thing, but all the information will be out there so that we don’t make mistake in getting these things done.
“I will also appeal to the students that there is a crisis, it is affecting them one way or the other. How will the limit the impact or effect on them, whichever way, we must follow the process.”
