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University admissions: Nigerians want 25-year-old quota policy scrapped

- ‘Policy attacks excellence, celebrates mediocrity’
- Bayero lecturers defend policy, blame northern leaders
Academics, among other Nigerians, have called for urgent review or scrapping of the nation’s quota policy in varsity admissions to promote equity and national development.
In a bid to ensure uniform development of the country’s educational sector, the Federal Government, 25 years ago, formulated a policy of granting preference to candidates seeking admission into universities across the country, from states considered to be educationally disadvantaged at the time.
Still justifying the policy in the context of today’s Nigeria, Head of Information at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the policy was designed to unite the nation by giving everybody from every state of the country, an opportunity to be educated and have a sense of belonging “because every Nigerian is a stakeholder in the polity.”
But former vice-chancellors, Femi Mimiko, Ayodeji Olukoju, Prof Adebayo Adeyemi; the Head, Department of Educational Foundation, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Ngozi Osarenren and Senior legal and Programme Officer, Human Right Law Services (HURILAW) Collins Okeke noted that the policy had been overtaken by 25 years’ events. They argued that quota system in university admissions has been misapplied and should, therefore, be discarded.
Benjamin said the policy, which favours the educationally disadvantaged states will have to continue, because the gap it was intended to close has not yet totally been bridged.
He explained that giving peference to candidates from these states goes beyond merely giving admission to students.
He said the policy was introduced in the 1970s after the Nigerian civil war. “There was mutual suspicion among the ethnic groups and government was looking for a platform to unite the people. JAMB became one of these platforms that could bring the various ethnic groups to form a nation. The policy was designed to accommodate this interest.”
Guided by the policy, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe were categorised as educationally disadvantaged states; while Ogun, Lagos, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Delta, Imo, Akwa-Ibom and Edo states were grouped as educationally developed states.
But stakeholders wondered why, 25 years after the enactment and execution of the policy, states like Cross River, Rivers and Kano with several tertiary institutions, would still be classified as educationally less advantaged.
In the policy, merit is given 45 per cent. This covers all candidates from the country; it gives automatic admission once you meet the cut-off mark. The second is catchment, which is 35 per cent; while the third factor is educationally less advantaged states, which is 20 per cent.
Stakeholders also demand an end to the policy, which they argued, deny candidates who merit admission, the opportunity to gain access into higher institutions of their choice.
Okeke, Huriwa boss, said the policy had outlived its usefulness, describing it as discriminatory, encouraging mediocrity and discouraging excellence.
“Instead of the quota system, there should be incentives for states that do well educationally to encourage them and ginger others to perform better while teachers can be taken from the south and pay more so that they can complement their northern counterparts and effectively impart knowledge. Quota system creates a mediocre kind of educational system,” he said.
Mimiko, erstwhile vice chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba (AAUA), said while there was nothing wrong with the policy, it should be implemented in such a way that it would not undermine merit.
Mimiko, a professor of political science at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife lamented that the quota system had been implemented in such a way that calls to question the nation-building objective of the country.
He said, “The quota system is supposed to be a stop-gap measure; use it to bring up the disadvantaged and thereafter put a stop to it, and start treating everyone on the same standards.”
He added that the space for the quota system must be a “very small” percentage of the spaces available and that in the listing of those to be accorded space through a quota system, the spaces should still go to the best in such groups. He further suggested that the quota system should be implemented in such a way that it would not give the slightest hint that it was meant to reward “lazy ones.”
To address the lopsidedness, Mimiko called on governments in areas considered educationally-disadvantaged to invest in the sector.
Prof. Adeyemi, former vice chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Ota, lamented that the quota system had been misapplied. To address the problem, he advocated a national cut-off point for prospective students.
“I could recollect my serving as admissions chairman (officer) for the Faculty of Technology at the OAU between 1986 and 1991; admissions were based on the quota system. At that time, I think it was based on the following parameters; merit (40%), catchment (30%), educationally disadvantaged states (20%) and discretion (10%).
“Pass mark at that time was 200 to gain admission into Nigerian universities. At no time did we go below the minimum pass mark regardless of the group a candidate belonged to.”
While describing the intention of the quota system as noble, Olukoju lamented that beneficiaries had taken what ordinarily should be a privilege as a right.
He said the quota system had outlived its usefulness and should be phased out.
According to him, the system is giving undue advantage to some people, promoting complacency and mediocrity on the part of the beneficiaries.
Olukoju, who is of the Department of History and Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, said the policy was intended as a stop-gap but the beneficiaries, who are also in command of federal power, retained it to their own advantage, even as their educational status has improved over time.
“It is time to ask governors of the so-called disadvantaged states to account for their budgetary allocation to the education sector in their states. The affirmative action has been abused by its beneficiaries, who have worn it as a badge of honour. Every policy has a life span and this one has become obsolete. It was supposed to encourage the backward states to lift themselves up by their bootstraps but it has unfairly rewarded and reinforced mediocrity and an entitlement mentality.
For Osarenren, if students, regardless of their states, were given sound knowledge; they would effectively compete among themselves.
The scholar noted that the admission policy had only succeeded in sowing a seed of discord between parents and children from different regions.
“Every child must be treated well, if you admit a child with a lower score, how would such a child compete equally with others? The disparity in the admission system showed that government is merely paying lip service to qualitative education.
Also, a former chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ilorin chapter, Dr. Usman Raheem, says the quota system has outlived its relevance.
Raheem, in a chat with The Guardian in Ilorin, argued that the quota system for admission should be jettisoned and should revert to merit.
The ex-ASUU boss, who is a lecturer at the Department of Geography and Environmental Management of the institution, added that the system had failed to solve the problem of imbalance in the nation’s social strata.
He compared the system to a situation where the most qualified elder brother for a post was being asked to step down for the least qualified brother for the same position.
“In the process, many qualified candidates are daily dropped for the average ones under the guise of catchment zones and educationally disadvantaged states. However, where a particular area has the facilities like a higher institution for instance, I think it will not be out of place to give the people there “a little preference” above the others,” he added.
However, Profs. Tanko Adamu and Barde Ibrahim of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) argued that the quota policy should be retained, as the objective behind it had not been fully met.
Adamu, a professor of Geography, contended that there was still a wide gap between the south and the north in the educational system, which still needed time to bridge.
He lamented that successive governments in the region had failed to give priority attention to education.
According to him, for the gap to be bridged, attention has to be given to basic education, regretting that public primary education had been neglected over the years in the North.
“If you want to bridge any gap, the fundamental work is actually at the basic education level, and we all know that the public primary education system has been neglected over the years. Successive governments have not been focusing on this area, which is actually the key to addressing the gap between the two regions.
“We are not doing as well as we should in the north, so there is no way we can catch up with the South,” he maintained.
He called on leaders in the region to give adequate training to teachers in the area.
“We do not value education in a way that we can sit down and plan properly and I think that is where the problem is,” Adamu stated.
For Barde, a professor of Accounting, the quota system is still in order. He likened it to the 13 per cent derivation enjoyed by oil-producing states.
He also argued that the quota policy was still relevant because the North was still behind the South and called for the establishment of more schools in the region.
-The Guardian
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Just in: Factional Zamfara assembly leaders want governor to represent budget

Just in: Factional Zamfara assembly leaders want governor to represent budget
A factional House of Assembly has emerged in Zamfara state with members demanding the re-presentation of the 2025 Appropriation Bill by Governor Dauda Lawal.
The group, made up of nine lawmakers who were suspended in February 2024 over allegations of misconduct, conspiracy, and illegal sitting, convened in Gusau, the state capital, and declared the formation of a parallel legislative body.
At the session, the lawmakers elected Hon. Bashir Aliyu Gummi as Speaker of the factional assembly.
During the sitting, the faction addressed several issues, including the state’s deteriorating security situation, economic challenges, and the recent reports of mass sackings within the state civil service allegedly carried out by the Lawal administration.
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The group further demanded that Governor Lawal re-present the 2025 budget, arguing that the process followed in its initial passage was flawed. The governor had originally submitted the N545 billion Appropriation Bill to the widely-known State House of Assembly led by Speaker Bilyaminu Ismail Moriki in December 2024. The bill was passed and signed into law that same month.
Present at Wednesday’s session were Hon. Aliyu Ango Kagara (Talata Mafara South), Ibrahim Tudu Tukur (Bakura), Nasiru Abdullahi Maru (Maru North), and Faruk Musa Dosara (Maradun 1). Others included Bashar Aliyu (Gummi 1), Bashir Abubakar Masama (Bukkuyum North), Amiru Ahmed (Tsafe West), Basiru Bello (Bungudu West), and Mukhtaru Nasiru (Kaura Namoda North).
Just in: Factional Zamfara assembly leaders want governor to represent budget
News
NLC to IMF: Your reforms inflict hunger, poverty on masses

NLC to IMF: Your reforms inflict hunger, poverty on masses
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has taken a swipe at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over its policy proposals to Nigeria and other African nations on how to rejuvenate their ailing economies.
Indeed, the NLC pointedly told the IMF that its conditionalities for giving loans to Nigeria and others were inflict pains of hunger and poverty on the masses.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, stated this when he received the IMF team team comprising the its Resident Representative for Nigeria, Christian H. Ebeke, and, Axel Schimmelpfennig from Washington, DC.
The purpose of the visit, it was learnt, was to assess how Nigerian workers and the general populace are being affected by the current socioeconomic environment and the hardship resulting from government policies.
The IMF delegation, led by Schimmelpfennig also sought insights from the NLC regarding the state of the labour market in Nigeria. According to them, the information gathered would contribute to the IMF’s annual country report for Nigeria.
Sources at the meeting disclosed that the IMF team acknowledged that the Nigerian government has been grappling with fiscal challenges since assuming office.
They emphasized that the IMF’s recommendations are purely advisory and not mandatory, based on the prevailing realities in each country.
The delegation expressed concern that, often, governments do not follow the IMF’s recommendations to the letter, instead adapting them to align with political objectives. In effect, the IMF attempted to distance itself from the adverse consequences of some recent economic reforms in Nigeria.
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Nevertheless, the IMF team requested continued engagement with the NLC going forward.
Ajaero made it clear that governance should prioritize citizens’ welfare over profit-making.
News
‘Enough is enough’, Tinubu directs security chiefs to stop violent attacks

‘Enough is enough’, Tinubu directs security chiefs to stop violent attacks
President Bola Tinubu has ordered security operatives to end forthwith the violent attacks in some parts of the country, especially in Plateau, Borno, and Benue states.
He gave the directive during a meeting with security chiefs at the State House on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA); Mohammed Mohammed, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Emmanuel Undianeye, chief of defence intelligence; Oluwatosin Ajayi, director-general (DG) of the Department of State Services (DSS); and Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff (CoS) to the President.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Ribadu said Tinubu declared that “enough is enough” on the resurgence of violence in some parts of the country.
The NSA said the president directed security chiefs to work with the political authorities in states and at the grassroots level to find a lasting solution to the insecurity.
He said the security chiefs had acted on Tinubu’s previous instructions by meeting with political leaders in the affected communities and states.
The NSA said the meeting offered the security chiefs the opportunity to fully brief the president about the current security situation of the country.
“This time, we were able to sit with him for hours and give a proper briefing. We also took new instructions from him,” he said.
“Insecurity is not only a government problem.
“It also involves the subnational units — the communities, local governments, and especially the governors. The president directed that we work more closely with them.
“Some of these problems are community-related. While not entirely so, that element plays a significant role.
“Mr. President is working hard to ensure that Nigeria enjoys peace and stability. We are not relenting. We will not stop until we get the results he demands.”
On the resurgence of violent attacks in Borno, Ribadu said the terrorists were planting explosives during the period of relative peace in the state.
“This enemy does not give up easily. When there’s peace for a long time, they try to shock the public with an isolated incident,” he said.
The NSA said the security situation in the country is not yet at 100 percent, while noting that there is “significant improvement”.
Since the beginning of the month, many have been killed in some communities in Plateau State.
Benue State has also recorded violent attacks as over 50 people were killed in Ukum and Logo LGAs on April 18.
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