EDUCATION
Sanwo-Olu pledges to establish more JAMB centres in Lagos

Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has reiterated his administration’s committment to promoting quality education and promised to establish more Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) centres in the state.
Sanwo-Olu said this during a courtesy visit by Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB Registrar, on Tuesday in Ikeja.
The governor emphasised the importance of education in economic growth and development.
Sanwo-Olu pledged to provide a sizable plot of land in Ojo, FESTAC, Ikorodu and Mile 12 areas of the state for the construction of more Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres to support JAMB’s initiatives.
“Education, they say, is one of the strongest tools you can give to a human being,” he said.
He commended the board for its efforts in overseeing over 1,400 higher institutions, describing it as “the power of innovation, the power of technology, and of resilience.”
He assured JAMB of his administration’s willingness to partner with the organisation.
“This collaboration will benefit the state’s children and citizens.
“As government, I assure that there is a willing partner in Lagos State,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor also reiterated his administration’s commitment to supporting the teaching profession.
“We will continue to encourage people to remain in the teaching sector.
“That is the only way we can keep the profession well alive.
“To achieve this, the state government has instituted the Teacher’s Merit Award, which recognises and rewards outstanding teachers with training, incentives which includes brand new vehicles, and cash donations,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu also highlighted the state’s commitment to staff development, boasting of one of the best public service staff development schools in the country.
He added that the state had partnered with a public school in Singapore to provide training and retraining programmes for public officers.
Responding, Ishaq expressed appreciation for the Lagos State Government’s support to the board, particularly the proposed establishment of more CBT centres across the state.
He noted that in spite of Lagos State having 15 per cent of the entire candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the state had less than 10 per cent of the CBT centres in the country.
“We believe that when you see what JAMB is doing in terms of support for other states, Lagos State deserves more.
“For example, we have a 1,100-seater CBT centre in Kaduna that can conduct examinations for 4,400 candidates a day.
“We expended over N1.2 billion in constructing this in the last three years,” he said.
Oloyede also highlighted the mismatch in Lagos, where 9O per cent of the candidates are from the mainland, but the JAMB office is located in Ikoyi, causing inconvenience to both staff and students.
To address this challenge, he appealed to the Lagos State Government for support and collaboration.
“We extend our hands of partnership in sensitisation programmes.
“Priming our students for examination is necessary, and this cannot be done without the state support,” Oloyede stated.