59,000 candidates for UNILAG, OAU post-UTME

More than 32,000 candidates will write the 2015 post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) into the University of Lagos, according to the institution’s Deputy Registrar (Information), Mr Olagoke Oke.
The examination is scheduled to hold from August 12 to 14.
Oke said on Saturday that the figure was close to four times the 9,000 that was initially posted to the institution by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
JAMB in collaboration with some public universities had agreed to raise the bar of the cut-off marks of their institutions from 200 to 250 for the various courses.
The development had generated an outrage among candidates, their parents and other stakeholders, who called on the Federal Government to intervene.
The decision was later reversed after consultations between the Prof. Dibu Ojerinde-led JAMB and the Federal Government.
Oke said:“I want to say that all logistics toward a smooth conduct of this examination are fully in place. We have always been ready for situations like this and have always got it right.
“Before now, we were hoping to put logistics in place for the initial 9,000 candidates, but with the reversal of the decision, we now have to re-adjust and I want to say that we are fully prepared. All our computers and its accessories, the backups, alternative power supply as well as adequate personnel that will conduct the examination are all ready.’’
The deputy registrar said the university was compelled to extend the exercise to three days because of the large number of candidates seeking admission into the institution.
He, however, advised candidates to arrive early at the examination centres for a hitch-free exercise.
Over 27,000 applicants seeking admission to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State on Saturday wrote the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The Public Relations Officer of OAU, Mr Abiodun Olanrewaju, who spoke in Ile-Ife on Saturday, said the candidates include secondary school leavers and direct entry students.
Olanrewaju said that the students that qualified for OAU post-UTME were the ones who scored 200 and above in JAMB exams and took OAU as their first choice.
He said that many candidates with distinctions from their various schools applied for the admission and in order to be fair to all, screening exercise should be carried out.
“We have so many candidates that applied for direct entry admission and just to fulfill exam righteousness, they need to be screened.
“We don’t want to be unfair to any and for us to be justified; admission screening would allow us to have the real competent ones,” he said.
One of the candidates, Aanu-Oluwapo Adeyemi, who applied for Law, said that she would love to be admitted in OAU for her studies.
Adeyemi said that she believed that the school would mould her and give her excellent academic expectations.
Mrs Lynda Echebima, a parent from Port-Harcourt, who brought her daughter for post-UTME, expressed satisfaction on the conduct of the exam, stressing that it was well organised.
“From what I’ve seen so far, it is not so far from the impression I have about OAU. I hope that the students will get their deserved marks,” she said.
In the same vein, Mr Olusegun Adetayo, another parent from Lagos State said that he liked the conduct of the exam because the management made students to realise that they meant business.
Adetayo urged the management to maintain the discipline, expressing the belief that the marking would commence immediately and within 24 hours or less the results would be out.