I have just seen POST-UTME screening advertisements for UNILAG and FUTO; and I am wondering if anything is wrong with the ads.

Would it be wrong to screen candidates in order to ascertain their preparedness/ capacity to study in the institutions where they have applied to study? What fault would the federal government find with this step? They had claimed that the Post-UTME examinations in individual universities were a means of extortion. Now that the real examination may no longer take place, but the screening will still not be free, would the antagonists be satisfied as it would just be enough for anybody to pay the screening/ processing fee and await their admission?

Look at these:

  1. Federal University of Technology, Owerri 2016/2017 Admission Screening Exercise – Eligible candidates would be required to pay a processing fee of Two Thousand Five Hundred Naira (N2,500.00);
  2. University of Lagos Post UTME Screening Exercise for 2016/2017 Academic Session – Screening Fee: N2,500.

I wonder what Nigeria is building on! What exactly is the government encouraging? Is it sacrificing merit on the altar of mediocrity? Hopefully the government will withdraw from the politicisation of the education sector. The government has to be cautious!