Over 23,000 candidates sit for post-UTME at UNIZIK

The post-UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination) involving about 23,000 candidates commenced on Monday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University with the faculties of Arts and Physical Sciences leading the way.

A prospective student, Precious Nnawanne, who wrote the exams on History and International Studies said it went well.

“The exam is okay, the university met my expectations. I am hoping to scale through. The questions, though difficult, were mostly what we already knew.”

Also, a Geology candidate, Loveth Chike, had this to say: “The post-UTME was nice. This is my third trial for admission. The questions set were unexpected but I thank God, it was within my four JAMB courses though. There was no computer problem and the time was fair.”

Another candidate, Nwabulum Tochukwu, who seeks to study History and International Studies and has been trying to gain admission for two years said, “The exam was good. We started as at when due and I am optimistic. I am praying to God.”

Onyeka Mary-Jane, who has also been trying to gain admission for two years said,” the exam was okay though difficult.”

“I was expecting some history questions but got ‘pure English’, I hope my answers were right.”

On his part, Josephat Oguejiofor, a professor of Philosophy and the exam coordinator, said the examination had been running smoothly.

He noted that there were some technical hitches at the beginning which were quickly fixed before it disrupted any plans.

“We started at exactly 8 a.m. We are very serious about timing. In fact, we started checking them in at half past seven and by quarter past 8 we told them to start writing. This is CBT. You don’t need to wait for everyone to sit down before they can start.”

He further added that there were more than 500 systems actively in use for the exams with several others as backup. He also said that it was quite difficult for any compromise or impersonators to gain access to the examination hall.

“It is difficult to be an impersonator with our system now. We are using the barcode to scan or search for persons’ details. The candidate’s profile for JAMB is really helping out. We further check the candidates while they are writing as their pictures are displayed on the screen of the computer. The only possibility is unless the impersonator assumes the candidate’s name completely which is most rare and we will definitely catch such persons. Our system cannot be hacked.”

On the number of possible applicants, he said that up to 23,000 people applied and were scheduled for the exams.

“Though more persons applied to our university, those who reached our cut-off mark of mostly 200 and 180 in very few cases are 23,000 and more candidates.”

He also said that the maximum number of those who write in a day is roughly between 3000 to 4000 persons.

“You see, we have set out seven days for this exam. If you divide the total number you will get, you will have the rough estimate of 3,000 people per day or more. Not all faculties have the same number because some faculties are more and some, less. On the last day, for instance, we had just one faculty due to their large numbers.”

He added that the results of the exams are already out and will be made available to the students before 6 p.m. today on the universities website.

“We will not be sending it through bulk mail or SMS alone because there are hitches with this medium. However, those who don’t see their results can log into their accounts on our website and check their result.”

Responding to questions on when the admission list of the university will be out, he said that with the results ready, the admission committee will immediately get to work hence the admission will be out before JAMB deadline. He also noted that some officials were on ground to assess the progress of the exam.

“Let the students continue working hard, parents should stop looking for whom to pay for admission. Here it is practically impossible. It is a show of lack of confidence in one’s children and detrimental to their future. 90 per cent of admission is on merit. The other 10 per cent on discretionary admission is rarely accessible. Merit admission is however guaranteed. If somebody tells you to give him N500, 000 (for admission) and you do, he won’t issue you a receipt so he can disappear,” he added.

Meanwhile, none of the officials of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board agreed to speak on the record. However, one of them said they were impressed with the process. She, however, said she wished the university could relax her ”strictness on compliance with time as some students may not meet up with their exam time due to unforeseen circumstances.”

The Faculties of Management Sciences and Biosciences are scheduled to hold their exams on Wednesday.