An Education expert, Mr Simon Fowowe, has commended the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), on plans to review the just concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Fowowe, who is the National President of the Association of Nursery and Primary Education Instructors (ANPEIN), made the commendation in an interview on Wednesday in Lagos.

Fowowe described the plan as “timely and necessary” saying that there should be an immediate review of the marking, while calling for immediate investigation on the examination.

The education expert said that the proposed remedial reflected a critical juncture in Nigeria’s educational landscape.

“The recent discussions surrounding JAMB and its proposed remedial measures reflect a critical juncture in Nigeria’s educational landscape.

“While specific details about the remedial measures are yet to be fully disclosed, the context provided by recent events offers insight into the challenges and potential directions for reform,” he said.

He said a significant concern highlighted by JAMB was the prevalence of examination malpractice, particularly in the realm of Direct Entry admissions.

“The board has uncovered over 1,600 fake A’Level results, underscoring the need for stringent verification processes.

“JAMB has called for comprehensive legal reforms to combat this issue effectively, including amending outdated legislation and enhancing penalties for offenders.

“In early 2025, JAMB faced scrutiny from the National Assembly over alleged excessive expenditures, such as N1.1 billion on meals and N850 million on fumigation.

“However, upon review, the Joint Committee on Finance cleared JAMB of any financial impropriety, attributing the concerns to misunderstandings regarding budget proposals versus actual expenditures,” he said.

Fowowe added that JAMB had also identified inadequate broadband connectivity and limited technical expertise among staff as significant barriers to effective examination administration.

“The board has recommended establishing a national broadband funding scheme and offering career incentives for IT professionals to address these challenges .

“The case of Ejikeme Joy, who falsely claimed a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) score of 362, highlights the importance of maintaining the integrity of examination results.

“JAMB’s swift action in exposing the fraud has been commended by educational experts, emphasising the need for all institutions to adopt similar measures to uphold credibility,” he said.

He said the call for remedial measures by JAMB was timely and necessary.

“Addressing examination malpractice, enhancing financial transparency, upgrading technological infrastructure, and maintaining institutional integrity are pivotal steps toward strengthening Nigeria’s educational system.

“It is imperative that all stakeholders, including government agencies, educational institutions, and the public, collaborate to support these reforms and ensure a fair and credible examination process.

“There seems no unified grading system in the last JAMB exam. It looks like a political results.

“The brilliants failed this year and that calls for investigation and remedial measures,” he said. (NAN)

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced on Wednesday that it will maintain its previous forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2025 and 2026.In its monthly oil market report, OPEC projected a year-on-year increase of 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in both 2025 and 2026, unchanged from last month’s estimates.

“Total world oil demand is anticipated to average 105 million bpd in 2025, bolstered by strong air travel demand, robust road mobility, and continued activity in the industrial, construction, and agricultural sectors,” the report stated. OPEC also noted that increased capacity and healthy petrochemical margins in non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries were expected to drive further growth in oil demand.In spite of steady global economic trends, OPEC slightly lowered its global economic growth forecast for 2025 by 0.1 percentage point to 2.9 per cent, citing recent tariff-related developments.The forecast for 2026 remained unchanged at 3.1 per cent.(Xinhua/NAN)

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) says that no fewer than 120 million persons have so far been captured in the ongoing nationwide National Identity Number (NIN) enrollment since inception.The Director General of NIMC, Mrs Abisoye Coker-Odusote disclosed this at a media conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

She said the enrollment would still continue at both the rural and urban communities. “We have enrolled many Nigerians and still counting so we are definitely going to continue to ensure that we enroll more Nigerians before the end of this year. ” One of the things that we have done under the partnership with the World Bank on the Nigeria Identification for Development (ID4D) project is that we have been able to ensure that the private sector is integrated into what we do.“We have collaboration with the private sector through our scheme known as Frontier Partners where they join us to enroll Nigerians nationwide and they go out there with us and enroll Nigerians,” she said.Coker-Odusote said the Commission had been able to create an enabling environment by providing jobs nationwide .She said NIMC state offices and even at the local governments were equipped with upgraded equipments to help enrollees in various communities to be able to enroll.“There are well trained NIMC staff that are willing to assist you to be able to enroll through the application and modify the information as requested.“So it’s very important for us to know that when we are looking at the pricing framework, the summary of it is some prices were deleted, some prices were reviewed downward, and some prices were increased,” Coke-Odusote said.She said that citizens were allowed to book online, and visit the centres to pre-enrol, pre-fill their information as well as get their biometrics captured.Coker-Odusote said the pre-enrolment system processes had reduced across port for easier access of time in biometric capturing, saying that information were submitted online and authenticated and pre-enrolled.“People may move from one location to another location and they want to update because of jobs, because of family, people relocate to different parts of Nigeria.“So, if you move from Lagos State to Kaduna or you move from Abuja to Cross River, you need to be able to update your records. “So rather than allowing people to come and queue up at our centres we created the modification platform online,” she said . Coker-Odusote said the platform known as Self-Assist Platform allowed users you to log in with their biometrics, authenticate and follow cyber security policies and data protection policy to be able to modify data and update record online.“The NIMC NIN Authentication application is the official service for integration with the Commission’s backend infrastructure.“It introduces a robust layer of protection, empowering individuals with greater control over their personal information,” she said.Coker-Odusote said student loans could only be facilitated through NIN enrollment, saying it would drive economic growth and financial inclusion.” The government has provided access to facility, loan facilities for students or aspiring students that would like to further their higher education to be able to apply for this process with ease.“All you need to do is go on to their portal, input your name and what that does is you have a single source of information and verifiable information,” she said.The Director General said the process was to eliminate the possibility of duplication and also reducing cases or instances of identity fraud, adding that students had been able to apply for the loans successfully.She also said that the Commission had also engaged cyber security experts to be able to help strengthen to international best practices.“We have been able to reduce issues around extortion and corruption by at least 40 per cent. “It’s an ongoing process, we’re working on it and we have done quite a bit to be able to address all the problems,” she said. Coker-Odusote however, said training and re-training were ongoing in order to deliver their services efficiently.(NAN)