we all need to do something.....to change this system.

over thousands of hope has been suffocated, mother's hope has drown because of this bad system....

A Better Nigeria
'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere' - Martin Luther King Jr.
#justiceforabiodun

When you want to make a call, you don't start running helter-skelter, you don't start praying to a supreme being, you don't worry about the call not going through. Why? Because once you're not in an area out of coverage and you have airtime, there's no reason your call will not go through except there's another reason on the other side (like switching off), and the phone duly tells you that. Seamless! That is how several things are in orderly societies, seamless. But in my country? We are in a country of immense, harrowing and dignified backwardness, a country where things don't work. There are several burning issues presently in the national discourse, from innocent killings to appointment of dead peoples, but here is another that we need to attend to and it is tied to our very own future: Tertiary Institutions Admissions. Our backwardness have filtered into the educational sector like it has filtered into every sector of our country. We have situations where qualified applicants are denied the competitive courses, or outrightly denied admission, and unqualified applicants with 'connection' gains admission. This things happen across the country, across our tertiary institutions. Below is a fantastically absurd case, and further below is our recommendations and long-term solution.

Adeyemi Ahmed Abiodun is a 19-year old Nigerian. He wants to read Medicine. After having made is O'level beforehand, he registered for the 2017/18 JAMB and he chose Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria as his first-choice institution. He took the exam and came out in flying colours, 305/400. He took on the hurdle of post utme, he came out in flying colours, 283/400. The summation gives him an aggregate of 294. Exceptional! Photos attached.

The Admission time rolls in...
The first 'list' was released on 7th December, 2017. Abiodun was not offered admission. The second 'list' was released on 25th December, 2017. Abiodun was not offered admission. The third and last 'list', was released on 6th January, 2018. Abiodun has been denied admission. It is worthy to note that, the 'lists' were not list in the true sense of the word as the school never published any list detailing admissions. You smell something awkward?
The cutoff marks were never revealed but the aggregate cutoff mark is believed to be between 240-260. Abiodun says he has seen candidates with far less aggregates compared to his, given Medicine. Abiodun says he knows four other people who, although have lesser qualifications, deserve less competitive courses than the one they applied for. There might be others too. Abiodun will love an independent inquiry.

We cannot allow another subverted trajectory, another quashed dream. No! Not in 2018. This injustice can not be swept under the carpet. In our comprehensive study, we found out Abiodun merits an Undergraduate Medicine admission. We want Abiodun's story to reverberate across the whole country. And you can help with that. Yes, you! Share this post. Write your own opinions and make your own expressions using this hashtag, #justiceforabiodun. We want #justiceforabiodun. In his words, Ahmed says, 'If not for anything else, I want this for my mother who is in a huge despair over this. I can't even tell her the third and final list has been released, I cannot'. We will be counting on you...

Looking ahead, on the long-term solution to prevent reoccurrence of this sort, there seems to be only one way: #automatetertiaryadmissions We are in 2018, we need to move forward. Jamb worked on and implemented a central automated system last year, but just as Ahmed's case has pointed out, it is not effective. Using ABU as a case study, it was used in the first list and it seemed to it seems the school wrested control away from JAMB and it wasn't used in the subsequent lists. Picking from the scenario that was painted at the beginning of this piece, what we need is a seamless system and that can only be achieved via automation. An automated admission system wherein all requirements and specifications, - O'level, Utme, Direct entry points, Post Utme - for every course will be keyed into the system. And when it's time for admissions, the best applicants will be selected based on the basic quota of 45% Merit, 35% Catchment area and 20% Educationally less developed states (ELDSs) by the automated system, devoid of human interference. *This basic quota should be subjected to review.

Year after year, a big percentage of applicants who merit admission are denied admission in place of less qualified and in some cases, unqualified applications. Indeed, that's one of the reasons we are churning out half-baked graduates. All in all, our Education sector needs an holistic reform. Only that way are we going to truly develop.