UTME: Mixed reactions, as internet failure, lateness to centres mar first day of examination

MIXED reactions trailed the first day of the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which began on Saturday across 642 centres in the country, with internet failure as well as lateness to examination centres reported to have caused hitches to the exercise.

The examination, which was written by more than 57,000 candidates in its opening day took place under tight security, with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) insisting that the exercise was smooth and peaceful nationwide.

The JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said there was no technological failure throughout the centres.

“I have heard what is happening all over the country and we are pleased with what is happening. Technology is reliable; to have technology problem is an exception. What is normal is for technology to work very well and I think technology has worked properly.

“When the other time, it malfunctioned we did not like it. That was an accident. Now we are enjoying the value of technology and I must thank our partners, MTN and Airtel for doing very beautiful job. I must also thank my colleagues, Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts, who are all over the country participating in the monitoring exercise in the field,” he said.

The examination was held under tight security provided by the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who were heavily armed and stationed strategically in all the centres in Abuja.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the examination started late in a few centres including the Digital Bridge Institute centre, where the first session started at about 8 am, an hour behind schedule.

Anger and frustration were clearly evident on the faces of applicants in a number of places, following hitches that marred the UTME, with applicants reportedly lamenting the perceived shoddy preparations by the authorities of the JAMB for the examination.

At the Bafuto College, Egbe, candidates who took part in the morning examination said the exercise was hitch-free.

However, some of the candidates who spoke with Sunday Tribune said a major challenge was the inconvenience occasioned by the commencement of the morning papers.

Slight delays were also witnessed at some centres in Lagos including the CBT Centre at WAEC’s International Office, Agidingbi, where examination was held off for up to an hour in the morning because many candidates did not arrive in time.

 

Mixed reactions trail exercise

Some of the candidates who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in some parts of the country decried poor internet network.

According to NAN, some of the candidates in Abuja, Osun, Ebonyi and Nasarawa states expressed dissatisfaction over poor internet networks at their respective CBT centres especially at Kunike International School, Ilesa road in Osogbo, Risewise CBT centre in Kuchikau, Nasarawa State, among others.

Dauda Geoffrey, a candidate at the CBT centre, Kuchikau, told NAN that he experienced some challenges ranging from bad network to system tripping off as a result of power failure.

Miss Faith Attah, another candidate, also noted that the only problem faced in the centre was that of network failure, adding that JAMB authority should look for ways of solving the problems for the next batch of candidates.

Some candidates also decried the unfriendly attitude of some JAMB staff that showed less concern to candidates who needed immediate attention or faced with some immediate challenges.

Master Adebayo Oyelabi, one of the UTME candidates in Osogbo, told NAN on Saturday in Osogbo, that the challenges of bad network and wrong password in the event of logging into the JAMB website, affected him and many other candidates.

He said the computer systems at Kunike denied a lot of candidates’ access to the UTME site, which eventually led to distraction before the intervention of the coordinator and normalcy was later returned.

 

Electricity failure, poor internet mars exercise in Ibadan

Electricity failure and poor internet connection stalled the smooth conduct of the UTME at the Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre of the Polytechnic Ibadan, as many candidates experienced difficulties during the exercise.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the ICT edifice, which was to host three sets of candidates for the UTME examination at its two centers (centre 1 and 2), only had a smooth exercise at centre 1, while system malfunction causing a serious hiccup at the second centre.

In bid to rectify the problem, the UTME officials swiftly conveyed hundreds of affected candidates to the University of Ibadan CBT centre in two buses, Sunday Tribune gathered.

Sunday Tribune learnt that the hiccups also caused delay for more than an hour, as electricity reportedly went off for 30 minutes, precisely, from 10 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.

The development was said to have made the centre rowdy as candidates as well as parents and guardians raised eyebrow on the development.

Speaking to Sunday Tribune, a furious candidate said “the JAMB officials and the management at large are unfair to us. Though they know that the centre doesn’t have what it takes to carry out the exercise, yet they still brought us here. I hope these problems won’t affect my result.”

An embittered official also lamented the technical hitch, saying “despite several efforts and assurance from the authorities of the tertiary institution to carry out a hitch-free exercise, technical hitches still occurred where some candidates had to be taken elsewhere to write their examination.”

It was gathered that candidates also experienced a similar problem during the recently held mock UTME examination in the centre, with candidates having to leave the centre at 10 p.m.

At the second centre in the same institution, however, the JAMB official in charge of the centre, Mr Jimoh Adigun, earlier confirmed to the Sunday Tribune that they had some issues at the outset, which led to the delay in allowing candidates into the centre.

He said: “We were able to rectify it in no time. Also, we have not encountered any form of malpractice, so far; however, we also have put in place adequate security measures to restrain such act.”

 

Exercise smooth in Ondo

The two centres at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) were filled with the applicants as early as 6.30am, waiting for the officials of the examination board.

The situation was not different in other centres at the State Library Board and Idris Secondary School, as the officials were seen ushering the students into the examination hall, with security personnel seen in all the centres as early as 6 a.m. to ensure the peaceful conduct of the examination.

 

Hitch-free exercise in Enugu

In Enugu, UTME was hitch-free as candidates were seen in designated centres writing their papers.

Some of the candidates who spoke to Sunday Tribune at St Joseph Comprehensive School, Enugu, said they wrote their papers as scheduled, though, some of them had an initial problem of locating the centre.

 

Smooth take-off in Ogun

The UTME in various accredited centres in Ogun State started on a good note, Sunday Tribune learnt.

In the centres monitored by Sunday Tribune in the Abeokuta metropolis, the examination commenced with screening as early as 6.15 a.m.

At the National Open University (NOUN) along IBB Boulevard, the examination commenced as scheduled with no hitches recorded.

A JAMB official told Sunday Tribune that all the computers worked perfectly.

It was the same situation at the South-West Resource Centre, Oke-Mosan, DORF Centre, Asero, Federal College of Education, Osiele, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Navy Secondary School, Adigbe, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun and Ijari  Centre, along Ogbogbo, Ijebu -Ode.

The JAMB supervisor, at the NOUN centre, Mrs Essese  Magaji, said that no logistic challenges were recorded and that students conducted themselves in an orderly manner.

 

Exercise smooth, peaceful nationwide—JAMB Registrar

Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja shortly after monitoring the exercise in some examination centres, the JAMB Registrar, Professor Oloyede, expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the examination in many centres.

Oloyede said in spite of the general peaceful conduct of the examination, there were recorded disturbances in four of the examination centres where some “criminal elements” attempted to perpetuate examination fraud.

According to him, “four centres were confronted with challenges caused by some individuals who were out to sabotage the process, but were closely being monitored to forestall further hitches.”

He said: “Out of the 642 centres, we have problem with only four. We have two problems in Bauchi, one Kano, and one in Ekpoma. We gave three hours to put the centres in place. The problem was not from technology but from those who are cutting corners who failed to put the centres in pace. For criminal ingenuity of certain people, they did not know that we have put technology in place to detect all that. “

He disclosed that the examination could not hold early in Maiduguri as scheduled because of panic and militarisation of the university campus where the examination was to be held following the bomb explosion that occurred Friday night.

The JAMB boss also told newsmen that the Board in its wisdom cancelled the conduct of UTME in foreign centres where substantial resources were committed in the past towards conducting examination for few registered candidates in order to cut cost.