Jubilation in Badagry as JAMB suspends use of NIN for 2020 UTME

Some candidates from Badagry who were preparing for the forthcoming 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) expressed joy on Saturday as JAMB suspended the National Identification Number (NIN) registration.

They told our reporter in separate interviews that it was a welcome development.

It was also reported that some of the parents whose children had undergone various challenges in an attempt to register for the NIN took to the streets expressing their happiness over the suspension.

They lauded the timely suspension of the NIN registration which was one of the requirements needed by potential candidates to register for the 2020 UTME.

They thanked the registrar of JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, for his timely intervention on the issue.

The registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede,had announced the suspension of using NIN as a requirement to be met by candidates intending to write the 2020 UTME while addressing journalists in Abuja on Saturday.

He said that the move was to provide more time for candidates to get their national identification numbers.

He said the the suspension was also to address the technical challenges experienced at some centres.

Oloyede told potential candidates to disregard the use of NIN for the 2020 registration and strictly comply with other procedures for the registration.

Mr Felix Godonu, a parent and the President of Hengo Badagry Youth Association, told our reporter that the suspension was prompt and a welcome development.

“This will save the time during which students queue for the collection of NIN which has also given room for extortion from the students.

“The stress that the students have been going through in last few months is uncalled for.

“The Federal Government should decentralise the registration process by using banks, tertiary institutions and online registration method.

“Our association had to support some students with transportation fares before they could travel to Ogun to register for NIN.

“It is high time for our government to have an up-to-date data base; these students had written examinations conducted by WAEC, NECO and GCE in the past.

“Even, the JAMB registration process is enough for the government to generate NIN for their intending candidates,” he said.

Godonu urged JAMB to use the period between now and when next candidates would be registering for UTME to find a lasting solution to NIN registration.

According to him, this will save the students and their parents from the stress they had gone through in recent weeks because some of the children’s health cannot withstand such.

Mrs Tonia Kalu, a Deputy Director, National Population Commission (NPC), commended the Federal Government for its current action.

“When government is ready, they should make available adequate equipment to match the teeming population of students seeking admission into the country’s universities,” she said.

Mrs Sewede Pot-Balogun, a parent and the Coordinator, Badagry Women Development Forum, commended the Federal Government for suspending the exercise.

“I always feel sad every morning while passing through the NIMC office in Badagry and seeing our youths on endless queue waiting for NIN registration.

“Most of the periods they would have used to study were being wasted on the exercise. Some of our children have not been able to get it done in the past one month.

“Touts had hijacked the exercise thus extorting money from our children. This is bad and we are grateful that the pain has ended for the main time,” she said.