The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has appointed a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega to chair a newly inaugurated admission committee.
The JAMB Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this on Monday, adding that the committee is expected to attract foreign students
into Nigerian tertiary institutions, starting from the 2019/2020 academic session.
Oloyede said that members of the committee include a former Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University, Prof Olugbemiro Jegede,
and a former Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Prof Olushola Oyewole and seven others.
In its weekly bulletin for this week, the board said, “The immediate past Chairman of INEC, Prof Attahiru Jega, has been appointed as
Chairman of the Committee on Internationalisation of Admissions into Tertiary Educational Institutions in Nigeria. The committee was
conceived during the 2019 Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities in Egypt in July.
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“The JAMB registrar said setting up the committee had become necessary in the view of the prevailing localisation of tertiary institutions
in the country. The committee is encouraged to support tertiary institutions, particularly the universities, on how to attract foreign
candidates into the Nigerian education system.
“The Jega-led committee is also charged with suggesting veritable means through which the foreign centres of JAMB can attract more
candidates, especially Nigerians in the diaspora, to apply for admission in Nigerian universities.”
In his response, the former INEC Chairman said, “I have gone through the terms of reference underscoring the intention of the board to
internationalise the nation’s universities. If this is achieved, it will improve the rating of our universities and appreciate their capacity to
compete with their international counterparts.”