By Muhammad Baqir
A Nigerian father has recounted his family’s harrowing journey through the labyrinth of university admissions corruption, revealing how his son who scored 333 in JAMB was nearly forced into studying Microbiology before the intervention of JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede restored him to his rightful place in Medicine and Surgery.
Dr. Muyiwa Kayode, the father, shared the ordeal in a detailed account that has gone viral, exposing the rot within Nigeria’s tertiary institution admission system.
According to Dr. Kayode, his son, now a 400-level Medicine and Surgery student, scored 333 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) but was shocked to find his name missing from the admission list of his chosen institution.
“I was later told by the Institution that my son could be offered Micro Biology. I told the Registrar of the institution point blank that, ‘I have spent hugely (Several Millions of Naira) to get my Son to this Point of Entry (PoE) to become a Medical Doctor and not to become a Biology Teacher through her offer of Micro Biology.’ This Registrar was so mean. She simply told me, we are very sorry, Micro Biology is the best we can offer your son,” Dr. Kayode recounted.
Refusing to accept defeat, Dr. Kayode proceeded to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) headquarters in Abuja to seek an audience with Prof. Oloyede.
“Prof. Oloyede said and I quote: ‘Dr. Muyiwa Kayode, please go back home and sleep with your two eyes closed. From what I am seeing on my screen, your son is No.3 on the List of Medicine and Surgery of this institution with a JAMB SCORE of 333 which comes behind two other JAMB scores of 348 & 334 respectively. Unfortunately, none of these chaps, including your Son (i.e JAMB Score 348, 334 and 333) made the Admission List,'” Dr. Kayode narrated.
The JAMB Registrar was visibly angered by the discovery, contrasting the treatment of high-scoring candidates in Nigeria with what would happen in countries with functional systems.
“Prof. Oloyede continued and I quote: ‘Dr. Muyiwa Kayode, in SANE countries, this Institution should have sent the College Driver with an official vehicle to go and fetch your son from Ekiti to campus having projected himself into the MERIT LIST of this Institution but unfortunately, the endemic corruption in these institutions will just not allow them to follow Due Process,'” the father recalled.
Without hesitation, Prof. Oloyede took immediate action. Right in Dr. Kayode’s presence, he placed a call to the Vice Chancellor of the institution on speakerphone and confronted him angrily over the corrupt practices unfolding under his watch.
“This Vice Chancellor apologized to Prof. Oloyede saying what has just happened must have been an ERROR of OVERSIGHT on the part of his Management Team & promised Prof. Oloyede that he will personally ensure the Error of Oversight is corrected,” Dr. Kayode said.
Within 24 hours, the miracle happened. Dr. Kayode’s son checked the university’s admission portal and discovered his name had been included—not just admitted, but placed as Number Three on the admission list. The two candidates with scores of 348 and 334, who had also been criminally omitted, appeared as Numbers One and Two respectively.
“The good news in all of these is that, my son that would have been CRIMINALLY denied admission ab-initio now TOPS his class with a G.P.A of 4.85,” Dr. Kayode revealed with palpable pride.
The father’s account however carries a bitter indictment against Nigeria’s institutions, saying, “This is neither Federal nor State government doing… Every sector of the economy in Nigeria is corrupt.”
The story has reignited public debate over the integrity of university admissions in Nigeria, with many calling for systemic reforms to prevent such “criminal denials” from occurring in the first place. While Prof. Oloyede’s intervention saved one student, Nigerians question how many other deserving candidates have fallen through the cracks without powerful advocates to fight for them.