SINCE its inception in 1978, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been the central body responsible for conducting entrance examinations into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. To standardize admissions and ensure placement across the nation’s diverse educational landscape, JAMB was established to centralise admissions as opposed to individual institutions conducting their entrance exams.
However, over four decades later, time has come for stakeholders to critically assess whether JAMB lived up to its foundational objectives, or if it had become an impediment to equitable access to higher education in Nigeria, particularly in light of the scandal that tainted the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The 2025 UTME was marred by technical glitches that affected approximately 379,997 candidates, predominantly in Lagos State and the Southeast region. These disruptions necessitated rescheduled examinations, causing undue stress and logistical challenges for the affected candidates. While JAMB’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, publicly apologized for these shortcomings, the recurrence of such issues highlights systemic administrative inefficiencies that compromise the integrity of the examination process.
One of the most contentious aspects of JAMB’s operations is the implementation of varying cut-off marks for different regions, particularly between the northern and southern parts of Nigeria. This policy, often justified under the guise of promoting federal character and inclusivity, has clearly institutionalized inequality. By setting lower cut-off marks for certain regions, JAMB undermines the principle of meritocracy, leading to a perception of favouritism and fostering resentment among candidates from regions with higher benchmarks.
Such disparities not only question the fairness of the admission process but also violate Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which prohibits discrimination based on ethnic or regional affiliations.
Recent statistics from JAMB reveal a concerning trend of declining academic performance among candidates. In the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), only 17,025 candidates, representing a mere 0.88 per cent of the total, scored above 300. This is a slight improvement from 0.46 per cent in 2024 and 0.35 per cent in 2023, yet it underscores a persistent issue of underachievement.
Furthermore, in 2025, 71 per cent of candidates scored below 200, often considered a benchmark for university admission. Although, the board has said that 17,025 candidates, representing 0.88 percent of the total 1,931467 scored 300 in the resit exams, this pattern raises questions about the efficacy of JAMB’s examination model and its alignment with the educational curriculum and teaching methodologies employed across the country.
Moreover, the emphasis on revenue generation raises concerns about JAMB’s priorities. The focus appears to have shifted from facilitating access to higher education to maximizing income, potentially at the expense of educational equity and quality. Candidates are now required to pay significant fees to register for the UTME, a financial burden that is particularly heavy for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Despite JAMB’s claims of subsidizing certain services, the cost of registration and associated expenses remain prohibitive for many. Given these challenges, it is time to review the centralized model of university admissions in Nigeria.
Empowering individual tertiary institutions to conduct their own entrance examinations and admissions processes could foster greater transparency, accountability, and alignment with specific institutional standards and curricula. Such decentralization would also encourage innovation and responsiveness to the unique educational needs of different regions, promoting a more equitable and effective higher education system and broadening alternatives for admission-seekers.
JAMB, once ideal for standardized educational assessment, now faces significant challenges that question its relevance and efficacy. Persistent regional disparities, declining academic performance, administrative inefficiencies, and financial burdens on candidates underscore the need for a comprehensive overhaul of the admissions process into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
To uphold the principles of fairness, meritocracy, and equal opportunity enshrined in our Constitution, it is imperative to dismantle the current centralized model and embrace a more decentralized, transparent, and regionally responsive approach to university admissions. Scrapping JAMB is a sine qua non for attaining that objective. The future of Nigeria’s higher education and, by extension, its socio-economic development, depends on our willingness to implement bold and transformative reforms.
