Graduate of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Adamu Sunday, shares his harrowing experience with SOLOMON ODENIYI after discovering that another student was assigned his JAMB registration number to observe the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps programme
You threatened suicide after alleging that your university used your JAMB registration number for another person. Do you think this is worth your life?
I feel very sad that I have been frustrated by Nasarawa State University, Keffi. If not for the encouragement I’ve been receiving from people around me to stay strong, I would have ended it all. I am depressed knowing someone has reaped the labour of my four years at the university. This person used my registration number to serve.
They must have been using that NYSC certificate to work and make a living. Look at me, the owner of the number they used; I’ve graduated, but I cannot serve. What value does my result have? Don’t you think failing to go to school is better than what’s happening to me now? The school has made my life unbearable with their actions. Where do you want me to start from?
When did you register for UTME and when did you get admission?
I registered on February 7, 2018, after successfully sitting the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. I gained admission to Nasarawa in 2018 to study Economics. I have my admission letter from JAMB and every other document. I graduated with a Second Class Upper in 2024.
At what point did you notice you couldn’t embark on the one-year NYSC programme?
This was discovered when I attempted to enroll for the NYSC; all attempts to be mobilised were unsuccessful. I went back to school in July 2024 to complain to the university to understand why my several applications for mobilisation had been rejected.
A list was brought to me after it was checked. I was told that I had already served in 2019. At that point, I was shocked. I told them I couldn’t have sat UTME in 2018, been offered admission in 2018, but resumed in 2019 due to a strike and then went for my national youth service in 2019. However, the data entry officer didn’t give me a listening ear.
What did you do next?
On July 23, 2024, I went to the JAMB Zonal Office at Life Camp in Abuja and narrated everything to them. I did a thumbprint, which showed that I was the original owner of the registration number. I was told to go back to my school, as my registration number had been used to mobilise another person.
I went to the Student Affairs Division with my admission letter and informed them that I was referred from JAMB. They took my admission letter and asked me to come back so they could find out who my registration number was used for. They said they tried the person’s number several times, but he didn’t pick up their calls.
After a week, I called back to see if progress had been made. The school refused to pick up my calls. I had to go back to school and meet my Head of Department. After narrating everything to him, he asked me to write a letter to the Dean of Student Affairs.
The following day, he took me to the dean on August 8, 2024. After two weeks, there was no response. My HOD advised me to follow up. I went back to the school; at that point, I was frustrated with the entire situation.
I changed my mind and tried to see the vice chancellor, but I met his special assistant. I narrated everything to him. He gave me a written note and asked me to go back to student affairs.
What happened after you got there with the note?
I went there and met the student affairs officer, who, after reading the note, told me that even if the VC got involved, they were the ones to advise him on the matter. He advised me to go for JAMB regularisation.
Why didn’t you settle for regularisation?
I called someone at the JAMB zonal office and other people I know to seek advice on the option presented by my school, but I was advised against regularisation. I was told that this would render my admission invalid and that my results would be useless.
Are you the only one affected by this issue?
I don’t think I am the only one. I remember when I was being persuaded to accept regularisation by an employee at the Data Entry Department. The person mentioned that in 2019, there were issues where some people didn’t have JAMB numbers, and they had to use the name that matched to mobilise them. I was also told that those affected agreed to the regularisation option.
After you heard this, what did you do?
I felt that I should not be made to suffer for something I knew nothing about. So, on September 4, 2024, I wrote a letter to the JAMB registrar. I also followed it up with a visit. There, they confirmed that I was the original owner of the number.
On September 5, I wrote to NYSC headquarters and went there too. I was told there was no need for me to submit a letter because they only worked with lists from schools. They insisted that the person mobilised with my number did it illegally and that the NYSC should be interested in the matter as a reputable organisation.
The letter was later taken from me. After a week, a lady from the NYSC called me and said that she had spoken to the student affairs officer of my school and that I should go back to my school. When I went back, the data entry officer at my school mocked me, saying that even if I had reported the matter anywhere in the world, they would still refer me to them.
He insisted that it was either I do JAMB regularisation or nothing. I immediately went to the VC’s office to discuss my matter, but I wasn’t allowed in. They referred me back to student affairs. There, I was told to stop being stubborn, and that I wasn’t the only one affected. I was also told that others whose numbers were used to mobilise other graduates had done regularisation.
I wrote to JAMB, and they asked my school to investigate the matter, but the Dean of Student Affairs was angry and asked me why I went to report them to the JAMB office, saying I should allow the matter to be resolved amicably. I told him I had been doing so, but because I hadn’t heard from the management, I had to write a letter to JAMB.
Has the person who used your registration number been found?
I suspect something is fishy; if the person my number was used to mobilise for the NYSC scheme is truly a graduate of the school, they can’t say all efforts to reach him were unsuccessful. If the school had no hand in it, the person would have been located and arrested because it is a criminal act to use another person’s JAMB registration number to serve.
But now, they have neglected me after asking me to regularise, which I rejected. There are many unanswered questions. Why can’t they do regularisation for the person who served using my registration number? It is not right that they are denying me access to the VC on this matter.
What do you want now?
I am asking for the right thing to be done. I want to serve, and the school should do what is needed. The regularisation option is a no-go for me. I don’t think I have asked for too much. I wrote to JAMB, got admitted, and did my best to graduate with a good grade. Recalling my days in school and what is happening to me now makes me sad. The night classes and other sacrifices — I am not ready to forfeit them.
Varsity will sanction graduate who used complainant’s registration number – PRO
Public Relations Officer of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Jafaru Abdullahi, speaks to SOLOMON ODENIYI about the controversy trailing the issuance of Adamu Sunday’s JAMB registration number to another graduate of the university who was mobilised for NYSC
What is the school doing to resolve the matter?
When the story came out, I took it upon myself to investigate deeper to find out the real source of the problem. So, I have spoken to the Dean of Student Affairs, who is handling the issue. Such a matter falls under his deanery. He told me that when the issue came up, they tried to reach out to him (Adamu Sunday) so that the matter could be resolved because someone had already used his number. It is not the fault of the university; the person shares the same name as Sunday. The person now used his number to get mobilised. The school said he would go to Lafia, where they would regularise him and then mobilise him for national youth service.
But he’s kicking against regularisation because of its perceived consequences. Don’t you think the graduate has reasons to be worried?
Many people pass through school, but if they have issues, they should go for regularisation. For example, if you were given admission under a particular programme, and then switched to another programme, your course records would be in the former programme.
You now have to regularise your JAMB admission so that it aligns with your current course. It’s just the case with him. It’s not like he never attended school. How can it be that he never attended school when he already has a certificate and a statement of result?
Are you assuring him that if he takes that option, it will not have a negative effect on him going forward?
No! It will not affect him negatively. That’s why it’s called regularisation. You are trying to regularise your admission for one reason or another.
Has the management located the person who used his registration number?
Currently, the school is investigating the matter. When investigations are concluded, disciplinary actions will be taken against the person who has been mobilised for youth service using Sunday’s registration.
Apart from regularisation, is there no other way out?
A lot of people have gone through regularisation. As I said, it’s just a process of regularising your admission for one reason or another. I cited the example of when a student switches courses; if you change your course, you need to regularise your admission so that it aligns with what you’ve been assigned. Sometimes, if you do regularisation, a new admission letter will be given to you, reflecting your new department.
Just like the matriculation number carries the admission year, would he get a new JAMB registration reflecting the year he wrote the exam if he does regularisation?
His case is peculiar. If he regularises his admission, he will be given a new JAMB number to enable him to be mobilised for NYSC. Without that regularisation, he won’t be able to serve because someone else has used his number.
So, a new number will be issued to him, and he will be able to do regularisation and go for NYSC. It’s really not a big deal. Regularisation does not have any repercussions whatsoever. I can assure you of that.
