2020 UTME: Reactions trail suspension of NIN requirement by JAMB

Some candidates from Badagry who were preparing for the forthcoming 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) expressed joy on Saturday as JAMB suspended the National Identification Number ( NIN) registration.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews that it was a welcome development.

Mr Felix Godonu, a parent said that the suspension was prompt and a welcome development.

“This will save the time during which students queue for the collection of NIN which has also given room for extortion from the students.

“The stress that the students have been going through in the last few months is uncalled for.

“The Federal Government should decentralise the registration process by using banks, tertiary institutions and online registration method.

“Our association had to support some students with transportation fares before they could travel to Ogun to register for NIN.

“It is high time for our government to have an up-to-date database; these students had written examinations conducted by WAEC, NECO and GCE in the past.

“Even, the JAMB registration process is enough for the government to generate NIN for their intending candidates,” he said.

Godonu urged JAMB to use the period between now and when the next candidates would be registering for UTME to find a lasting solution to NIN registration.

According to him, this will save the students and their parents the stress they had gone through in recent weeks because some of the children’s health cannot withstand such.

Mrs Tonia Kalu, a Deputy Director, National Population Commission (NPC), commended the Federal Government for its current action.

“When government is ready, they should make available adequate equipment to match the teeming population of students seeking admission into the country’s universities,” she said.

Mrs Sewede Pot-Balogun, a parent and the Coordinator, Badagry Women Development Forum, commended the Federal Government for suspending the exercise.

“I always feel sad every morning while passing through the NIMC office in Badagry and seeing our youths on endless queue waiting for NIN registration.

“Most of the periods they would have used to study were being wasted on the exercise. Some of our children have not been able to get it done in the past one month.

“Touts had hijacked the exercise thus extorting money from our children. This is bad and we are grateful that the pain has ended for the main time,” she said.