Hundreds of youths in Gombe State, who missed the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board registration deadline, are anxiously waiting for a miracle to happen.
Speaking on Friday in separate interviews with our correspondent Aishatu Jibrin and Ruth Luka, two of the affected applicants, expressed their frustrations in highlighting the uncertainty surrounding their academic future.
When our correspondent arrived El-lawanti ICT centre and Musasa candidates were seen lurking around.
Jibrin said, “I have been keeping vigil since to no avail. I wish that they will open the portal. I experienced a challenge.”
“The pin portal has been down for a while only for it to coincide with the closing date. Aside the challenge of network. I have wasted days without success and I’m disappointed,” Luka added.
Halima Mahdi, State Coordinator of Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All described the situation as “worrisome” and appealed to the JAMB Registrar to extend the registration period.
“We are worried and concerned about this issue, and we appeal to the JAMB Registrar to extend the time for these youths to achieve their dreams,” Mahdi said.
She harped that an extension would not only help the stranded youths but also reduce youth restiveness and curb the number of out-of-school children.
Idris Lawanti, Vice Chairman of the Association of Non-Governmental Organisations, urged the government to ensure that no candidate is exempted from registration. Lawanti acknowledged that both the government and candidates share the blame for the missed registration opportunity.
“The NIMC number was a challenge for most of the students, while some of the candidates failed to utilise the allotted time. We have over 13 JAMB registration centres in Gombe State over 200 students/applicants missed the registration in only one centre. Imagine how many students in the whole 13 centres in the state multiplied by the entire centres in the federation more especially Lagos. Kano Kaduna etc,” he added.
Lawanti called on the government to reopen the registration portal for at least three more days to allow the stranded youths to register.
When contacted on the possibility of reopening the portal for hundreds of Gombe applicants, Johnson adebiyi, JAMB coordinator for Gombe State, directed our correspondent to the headquarters.
“I think you should contact the headquarters,” Adebiyi said dismissing our correspondent’s questions.
