Encomium
Admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria has become more or less tough as fraudsters now parade institution’s portals, claiming to be the admission officers defrauding students with fake admission. Many students seeking admission into tertiary institutions fall victim of the activities of the syndicates which specialize in giving fake admission to seekers.
In some cases, many will cut their way to get admission by every means. In the long run, they would end up patronizing fraudsters and get duped of a huge amount of money for fake admission into a particular tertiary institution. The case of admission fraud has been on the rise in both private and public tertiary institutions. Redeemer’s University, University of Lagos, University of Ilorin, Obafemi Awolowo University and many more have reported cases of admission fraud, and therefore advised parents and guardians, even the students to go through the official process when seeking admission.
ENCOMIUM Weekly sought the opinion of parents and graduates on how to prevent fake admission in higher institutions when processing admission. In this chat, they revealed to us the causes, and how students can prevent being duped when seeking admission.
MRS. ENIOLA SHODIYA – The issue of admission fraud has been in existence long ago. I remember some years back when my daughter was seeking admission, she wrote JAMB, but didn’t meet up to the cut off mark. Friends and family members started persuading her to try online admission helper. I was told they could help my daughter with admission into any institution of her choice, but I insisted because I know full well that it is illegal. I have to advice her to patiently wait for the next JAMB, which she later wrote and passed. Now’s she’s a graduate. So, I think parents should stop forcing admission on their children. Don’t go beyond normal length in the process of seeking admission for a child. Let every student seeking admission go through the normal procedure, with that we can erase admission fraud in Nigeria.
STEPHEN OBASI – Admission fraud is common in almost every higher institution in Nigeria. The problem we are facing is that students no longer read. Our education sector is not encouraging. Admission process isn’t just what anybody can help you with. The procedure is simple. The student should write necessary exams and wait for the result. The aspect that baffles me the most is the fact that parents in most cases are part of the reason for admission fraud. How can someone tell you he wants to help your child gain admission into a particular institution and you ignorantly pay the requested amount to the person? This is not normal, parents must learn to encourage their children to read and pass exams, only which can secure a genuine admission for a student.
OLAOYE GBOYEGA – Admission fraud ends up discouraging students from schooling. I remember when I was in university, 2007 to be precise; I was in my final year when the school authority discovered 11 students from my department gained admission without genuine result. Immediately, they were expelled from the school after spending five years on campus. It was very sad because they became hopeless. Later the school authority found out that the school staff are part of those who collected money from the students while seeking admission into the school. So, the problem is something we have been facing for long but it can be curbed only if parents and admission seekers will follow the normal procedure when seeking admission into institutions in Nigeria.
MISS WONUOLA OSHITOYE (FUNAAB graduate, 2011) – I think there is need to strengthen the education sector in this country. Talking about admission, I won’t put much blame on the students because they are eager to study in higher institutions. The blame should be on the institution and their staff because the staff are often part of those who use influence to slot in names on the admission list. I have heard several cases when the staff of a particular institution would collect money from admission seekers without any plan to help them. All they do is to speak with those in the admission department and slot in names. Every institution should check the activities of those in the admission department because the issue of admission fraud is rampant and it needs to be eradicated.
-OLUWAFEMI SOEWU
