By Dansu Peter A fresh graduate of Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), Adamu Sunday, is in deep distress after being denied enrollment...
By Dansu Peter
According to Punch online, Sunday, who completed his Economics degree in 2024, alleged that his Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registration number had been fraudulently assigned to another individual, enabling the person to serve in his place back in 2019.
The discovery, he said, has pushed him into severe depression, as he now faces the grim reality of being unable to participate in the mandatory national service, a requirement for many job opportunities in Nigeria.
“I am depressed knowing that someone else has reaped the reward of my four years of study. This person used my registration number to serve, and I believe he must have been using that NYSC certificate to work and earn a living. Look at me, the rightful owner of the number. I have graduated, but I cannot serve. What value do my results have? Not going to school at all is better than this. I feel like ending it all,” he lamented.
Sunday, who registered for JAMB on February 7, 2018, and gained admission into NSUK the same year, said he only resumed studies in 2019 due to an academic strike. His troubles began when multiple attempts to register for NYSC after graduation were rejected.
“When I went back to the school in July 2024 to find out what was wrong, they brought out a list and told me that I had already served in 2019,” he recounted.
Stunned by the claim, Sunday argued that it was impossible for him to have been mobilized in 2019 when he had just resumed studies that same year. However, his concerns fell on deaf ears as the university's Data Entry Officer, Idris Dahiru, refused to listen.
Determined to prove his case, Sunday approached the JAMB Zonal Office in Abuja, where biometric verification confirmed him as the legitimate owner of the registration number in question.
"I was told to return to my school because my registration number had been used to mobilize another person. When I took this information to the Student Affairs Division, they assured me they would investigate and asked me to return later. But after several follow-ups, they stopped responding to my calls,” he narrated.
Frustrated by the lack of response, Sunday escalated the issue to his Head of Department, who advised him to write a formal letter to the Dean of Student Affairs. However, weeks passed without any resolution. His attempts to get the Vice-Chancellor’s office involved also proved futile, as Student Affairs officials dismissed the intervention.
“They told me that even if the VC got involved, they were the ones who would advise him on the matter,” he alleged.
According to Sunday, school officials pressured him to undergo JAMB regularization, a process that could render his admission and degree invalid.
“I contacted some people in JAMB who advised me against it, warning that regularization could make my admission invalid and my results useless,” he explained.
Further investigations revealed that some students with JAMB registration issues in 2019 had been assigned other candidates’ numbers, which were then used for NYSC mobilization.
In a desperate bid for justice, Sunday wrote letters to both the JAMB Registrar and NYSC headquarters. JAMB confirmed his claim, while NYSC initially dismissed his letter, stating that they only worked with lists provided by schools. However, after persistent follow-ups, an NYSC official eventually called him and advised him to return to his school.
"When I went back, the data entry officer, Idris Dahiru, mocked me, saying that even if I reported the case anywhere in the world, I would still be referred back to them. He insisted that it was either I do JAMB regularization or nothing," Sunday recounted.
His ordeal worsened when the university allegedly began treating him as a troublemaker for escalating the issue beyond the school authorities.
“They told me to stop proving stubborn, that I was not the only one affected and that others had already done regularization,” he said.
Despite JAMB’s directive for the school to investigate, Sunday claimed the Dean of Student Affairs was angered that he had taken the matter to higher authorities.
Now feeling hopeless, he lamented the injustice of being denied his right to serve while another person fraudulently obtained an NYSC certificate under his name.
Appealing to JAMB, NYSC, and the Federal Ministry of Education, he pleaded for urgent intervention.
“This injustice must be corrected. I should not be made to suffer for something I knew nothing about,” he said.
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