Unilorin VC Calls For Admission Autonomy.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing controversy surrounding universities’ admission exercise for the 2016/2017 academic session, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has called on the Federal Government and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to soft-pedal and grant the country’s universities the liberty to admit candidates through their respective in-house rules.
Prof. Ambali, who made the call last Tuesday while fielding questions on a weekly Yoruba current affairs programme on Unilorin 89.3 FM, “Oro t’onlo”, pointed out that the fact that the various universities are successfully running remedial and postgraduate programmes is a positive indication that they could equally handle undergraduate admission processes without much hitches.
The Vice Chancellor however disclosed that the University would soon release the modalities for its Post-UTME screening exercise.
Prof. Ambali said that the University had concluded arrangements to conduct the screening by August, as all the lecturers would have concluded the ongoing Second Semester examinations, adding that this would give them ample time to supervise the screening.
The Vice-Chancellor disclosed that about 103,000 candidates subscribed for just 10,000 spaces in the University this year, adding that those whose scores are within the cut-off marks set by JAMB are expected to take part in the screening exercise.
Ambali expressed hope that the University’s on-going discussion with the National Universities Commission (NUC) would yield positive result and lead to the increment of Unilorin’s current carrying capacity.
The VC, who also spoke on the need for Nigerian universities to have a sense of direction, said that it is high time for each Nigerian University to specialise in a particular field and ensure a steady production of graduates in specialised areas like Agriculture, Engineering, Technology and several others.
He pointed out that such graduates would then serve as ready-made drivers of the economy in their various chosen careers upon their graduation.
