UDUS graduates express frustration over ‘delay’ in release of statement of results, NYSC mobilisation

In May, the management of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) released the statement of results of students who completed their degrees from the institution in December 2023.

Overwhelmed with joy that he would not have to wait for long before mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, Abubakar Zuruk, a graduate of the department of Physics, asked his younger brother, who is also a student of UDUS to assist him in getting his copy at the Division of Students Affairs (DSA).  

However, Zuruk’s statement of result could not be fetched.

After two months of waiting, Zuruk was left with no option but to travel to Sokoto from Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, to make a formal complaint at the students’ affairs division.

“Prior to my arrival in Sokoto, I had to send my younger brother who was a student to find out but he could not find my statement of result. After two months of waiting, I knew I needed to come to the University myself.”

By the time he got to the school, he discovered that his department failed to submit his name to the university’s examinations and records office for the process of his statement of results. 

“I eventually resolved this and got the statement before travelling back.”

Like Abubakar, Amina Rashida, who graduated the same year from the department of Computer Science, told CAMPUS REPORTER that her statement of results was delayed by the university for six months.

She said it almost led to the termination of her employment in Kebbi where she told her employers that her notification of result would be ready in three months.

“I still work at the organisation with a senior secondary school certificate because there’s no proof that I am a university graduate.”

Unlike Abubakar and Amina, the case of Aliyu  Nagogo,  a graduate of Biochemistry is a bit different. He already has his statement of results but accused his department of not submitting his name to the senate on time which led to late mobilisation for NYSC.

“I’m currently affected alongside my colleagues. We, however, believe that the university can do better. We have become idle and the late mobilisation is tiring.” 

A case too many

In March 2021, some graduates of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta protested at the main entrance of the school over the failure of their management to mobilise them for NYSC since they graduated in 2019.

Two months later, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) reported how nearly 200 graduates of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State, were not mobilised for NYSC two years after their graduation due to failure the school management to pass their names for clearance. 

The graduates said the delay in mobilising them for the youth service impeded their chances of accessing travel opportunities, getting good jobs or even advancing their education.

In July 2021, 20 graduates of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), the capital of Imo State, also complained about the delay in the approval of their results, consequently hindering their mobilisation for the compulsory one-year national youth service.

Last year, over 3oo graduates of Medical Laboratory Science in Kwara State University also protested their delayed mobilisation for NYSC several years after graduation. The affected graduates lamented the lack of regularisation of the course by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Concerned about this menace, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has since warned Nigerian universities against unnecessary delay of students’ results, transcripts and mobilisation for NYSC. However, the problem persists in different institutions. 

When contacted about our findings in UDUS, the  students’ affairs officer in charge of NYSC mobilisation, Mahmud Isah, told CAMPUS REPORTER that the issue of late mobilisation are “sometimes not the university’s management fault rather a particular student might be facing departmental issues due to missing grades from previous years but remain unrectified until time of graduation.”

“As for the students affairs division, we only upload names sent to us from the notification room and majorities of these mistakes were directly neglected by departmental staff.”

Isah advised that students should not wait till after graduation before addressing some of their challenges. He also promised that the university will do better with the release of results and mobilisation of graduates for NYSC.