TECHDIGEST – Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, has honoured Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim pantami, Olowo of Owo land, Oba Gbadegesin Ologunoye and the former president of court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, with honorary doctoral degrees.

The event took place at the University premises during the 12th convocation ceremony of the institution.

The minister also commissioned the CBT centre named after him.

According to pro chancellor of the university, Dr Bode Ayorinde, Pantami was honoured with doctorate degree due to his tremendous contribution to nation building and also his achievements as Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, federal republic of Nigeria.

READ ALSO:Pantami to lecturers: Prepare students to become employers

On his part, Professor Pantami said he felt really honoured by the invitation of of Achievers University and appreciated the institution for honouring him with Doctorate Degree.

“I really feel flabbergasted because, I only know the University by name, the last time I visited ondo was 2018 to represent His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, vice president of Nigeria for a state event .

“However, it is my tradition to reject recognition without justification, I had an engagement with pro chancellor of the university , some of the reasons he mentioned to me are my achievements as Minister .

“His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari evaluated all the ministers performance when we took over as a minister in August 2019, the results were presented to me on October, 2022 clearly shown, in all the eight priorities given to me as Minister, I got A+ in all, that gives me an edge to accept the honorary doctorate degree given to me by this respected university, Achievers University.

“With all sense of humility, with the endorsement of pro chancellor and vice chancellor, I will be part of Achievers University from today”, said Pantami.

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TECH DIGEST- The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy,  Professor Isa Ali Pantami, has said that Nigeria’s problem is not unemployment but a lack of employability among the youth populace.

He therefore suggested that school curricula should be reviewed and that students be mentored on how to become successful entrepreneurs.

READALSO: Pantami calls for creation of Ministry of Digital Economy across states

The Minister said this while inaugurating a computer-based test (CBT) center at Achievers University in Owo, Ondo State, which was named after him.

The inauguration was part of events marking the university’s 15th anniversary and 12th convocation.

In his convocation lecture, the Minister counseled students to focus on developing the skills that would last them a lifetime.

The minister said:  ”Digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship aim to solve an existing problem and provide job  opportunities for mankind. It is worth noting that any society that lacks innovation and entrepreneurial skills will have to contend with the challenge of unemployment. In an economy with a high number of unemployed youths and where finding jobs is very challenging, a lot needs to be done in the area of education to reverse the trend.”

The minister emphasised that  every day, the qualifications for employment openings change, adding that problem-solving skills are now in demand as against certificates.

Dr. Bode Ayorinde, the university’s provost and chairman of the governing council, also spoke at the lecture. He expressed happiness that the institution has made significant progress over the previous 15 years and promised that it would continue to produce the best work that would benefit society.

According to the Provost, the new structure is necessary because it will house a CBT center for students taking the general studies, nursing, and medical laboratory science professional tests.

Dr. Ayorinde thanked the Minister for giving the convocation lecture, noting that it would greatly advance the students’ and graduates’ education and help them develop into better people in the future.

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TECHDIGEST – The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to conduct a Mop-up Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 18,000 candidates in some selected locations across the nation.

JAMB said candidates slated for the examination, which will take place on Friday, August 6 2021, are being notified through both text messages on their designated phone numbers and their JAMB profiles.

JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, who disclosed this Thursday in Abuja, said, In addition, the candidate can check using their registration number on http://www.jamb.gov.ng/2021mopup.

His words “Following a detailed investigation and careful analysis of the highly-successful 2021 UTME, and with due consultation (resulting in gracious concession) with the National Examination Council (NECO) concerning the timetable of the council’s ongoing SSCE, JAMB has scheduled a Mop-up UTME for Friday, 6th August, 2021, in some selected locations across the nation.

“For the avoidance of doubt, no candidate whose result has been duly released will be rescheduled for another examination contrary to the sponsored fake news being circulated on the social (and few mischievous conventional) media.

“The rescheduled candidates are in the following categories: i. Candidates who could not be initially scheduled for examination owing to their inability to timely procure and supply their mandatory NINs or profile codes until after the close of the registration exercise and, therefore, had to purchase Bank Drafts ( as against the usual vending of PINs) after the scheduled period for the examination and were later registered.

ii. Few candidates who encountered peculiar biometric verification problem, or who failed biometric verification on the examination date ( and were recaptured) but were not allowed to partake in the examination.

(Adequate screening arrangements have been made to reverify such claims and any candidate found to be involved in any form of impersonation will be identified for prosecution).

iii. Candidates who were unable to sit for the UTME owing to the clash of timetables of the UTME and the then ongoing NABTEB examinations and whose particulars have been verified and supplied directly to JAMB by NABTEB, and

iv. Candidates who have been ascertained by JAMB to have experienced genuine rescheduling/technical problems as was the case in 30 of the 760 centres used for the examination.

Benjamin said the rescheduled candidates are to print fresh examination notification slips containing the venue and time of the examination.

“The slips are to be printed from the JAMB website https://www.jamb.gov.ng using the candidates’ registration number from Sunday, 1st August, 2021.

He added “The Board strongly advises candidates to avoid supplying their vital information including registration number to fraudsters who are abound especially in cybercafe(s), tutorial centres springing up almost everywhere in the nation as a result of the illicit activities of examination syndicates.

“CBT centres approved by JAMB which are consistently monitored are relatively more secured for printing examination notification slips by candidates who cannot print such on their own.”

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TECH DIGEST – The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has declared the beginning of Computer-Based Test (CBT) for fresh applicants of the National Drivers License in all Driving school nationwide.

The Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said this in a statement by the Corps Public Education Officer (CPEO), Mr. Bisi Kazeem, on Friday in Abuja.

Oyeyemi said this is another great move towards enhancing the integrity of the National Drivers license.

This, he said, will be done through the Driving School Standardisation Programme (DSSP) to eliminate all incidences of road traffic crashes resulting from bad road use culture.

He said that the computer-based test for driver’s license applicants had begun nationwide from 1 June 2021, hence, the need for the public to be aware.

Oyeyemi revealed that the introduction of the Computer-Based Test is to ensure conformity with globally acceptable standards on drivers’ training.

He said that there is an urgent need to tackle high-level road traffic crashes occurring as a result of human factors, which contribute to more than 75% of road traffic crashes in Nigeria.

The FRSC boss said that applicants are expected to undergo a total of 26 sessions during their training in the various Driving Schools before certificates will be issued to them.

He, however, said that with the introduction of the test, at the end of the 25th session, the Driving School Standardisation Programme (DSSP) portal will automatically generate exam numbers.

According to him, the applicant is expected to use the number to log into the CBT portal to access the examination questions.

“A total of 35 multi-choice questions are to be answered within a duration of 30 minutes and successful applicants must be able to score 60% and above.

“This is to secure a pass mark that will guarantee the issuance of driving certificates. Failure to secure the pass mark will lead to rewriting the test 7 days after,” he added.

Oyeyemi said that the introduction of the new program is to complement existing efforts of the Corps towards ensuring the standardization of driving school programs.

He said that it is also expected to translate into producing a better crop of drivers with a great deal of knowledge of safe road use.

He emphasized that the Corps will continue to implement policies that will lead to the eradication of road traffic crashes.

He said if the crop of drivers on the roads are properly trained, more than 75% of crashes on the road could have been mitigated, indicating that human factor is the major cause of crashes.

Oyeyemi, therefore, called on the various State Governments to expedite action by ensuring that the State Motor Licensing Authorities key into this life-saving program as Driving Schools have been mandated to ensure compliance with immediate effect.

The FRSC boss also advised State Governments to ensure that CBT is compulsory for all applicants before driving tests are done. (NAN)

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TECH DIGEST – The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) announced the postponement of the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from June 19 to July 3, citing that the registration process has also been extended, with the exercise now to end on May 29.

“Candidates for Direct Entry are reminded to, while procuring their ePIN, specify their category of admission. However, where a DE candidate mistakenly purchases an ePIN for UTME, the selling point is hereby directed to rectify the error by swapping the ePIN to DE at no further cost to the candidate.

Digital Service Providers are encouraged to expand their facilities, including the provision of redundancy links. NIMC pledged to give priority attention to UTME/DE prospective candidates,” JAMB disclosed.

2021 UTME registration process

Nairametric reported in April that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) announced the creation of a USSD code to further ease the registration process for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The USSD system, which will complement the SMS method currently being used, would be available to candidates who are yet to send their National Identity Number (NIN) to the requested number.

“We shall be deploying another method to get these profile codes and that is *55019*1*NIN number of candidate and #. This will complement the current SMS.”

“Most of these candidates are not going through the process in the appropriate manner. There is just nothing stressful about the generation of the profile code if the steps are followed correctly. The right thing to do is to ensure that the word NIN is first typed, then space, then the NIN number of candidate and then forward to 55919.” the exam body said.

However, in the week since the UTME exam date was shifted, several candidates have complained to Nairametrics about their inability to generate the required profile code despite being debited at each attempt. For instance, Sambo Amina disclosed that there are still issues related to the new USSD system. She said: “I’ve been trying mine but it keeps on telling me ‘record not found and invalid NIN’ I don’t know what else to do. Please, I need help.”

“Please, does that mean one can’t purchase e-pin through 55019 anymore because I tried again but I haven’t received a response,” another candidate, Precious complained.

“I have been trying the code since the last 3weeks but I have not received my profile code still,” Francis Helen said.

“This profile code is not true. You deceived parents and candidates. Why? I sent several times without success and I spent over N1000 for nothing so please, consider,” Ado Tanko lamented.

These are only a few of the many comments Nairametrics received from exasperated UTME candidates.

Calls on JAMB for an extension

Before the official announcement of the extension, students with challenges called on JAMB to postpone the examination and extend the registration deadline. The JAMB Registrar also hinted at a possible postponement following difficulties experienced by some students when trying to register but added that the mock examination would still go ahead on May 20 as stipulated earlier.

“The date has to be extended because some students’ NIN is yet to come out for a month now, the nimc centre just issued a tracking ID and anytime u try to get your NIN, they will say it is yet to come out. This is the problem most candidates are facing,” Paul Ahmed said.

“It is better and advisable to extend the date of UTME 2021 Registration because many candidates are yet to get their NIN and JAMB profile code,” Omonubi Felix warned last week.

Bottom line

Before the USSD system was implemented, the registration process required candidates to have a valid phone number and email address. The National Identity Number (NIN) was also made mandatory to create a profile on the JAMB website, search for JAMB iBass to be sure of the candidates’ eligibility and generate a 2021 JAMB e-pin registration for a computer-based test (CBT).

This system, however, has posed multiple challenges for candidates starting from the NIN registration process. The “fire-brigade“ approach adopted by the government to get everyone registered has created all sorts of difficulties particularly for these students who need the number as part of the requirements for this year’s exam.

Generating a profile code is also proving to be yet another hurdle for some of the exam candidates and the situation is worsened by instances where candidates are debited for failed transactions.

Although the exam body has acknowledged that candidates are facing these challenges and consequently extended the registration window, it would need to do more to make the process easier for candidates as these challenges could affect their overall performance in the exam.

Policies that give priority to students at NIN registration centres and the provision of alternative avenues to generate the all-important profile code are some of the things the exam body can immediately do to ease the process for candidates going forward. Having said that, it is worthy of note that the exam body has instructed that “students yet to get a response from 55019 are requested to send their Tracking ID or NIN to nimcjamb2021@nimc.gov.ng.”

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