The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Segun Aina, has defended the Board’s plan to establish a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) centre in Canada, describing the backlash on social media as uninformed.
Aina was reacting to criticisms trailing the announcement of the proposed Ottawa centre, with many users on X questioning the necessity of the move and the cost implication.
In a direct response to the critics, the Registrar said the decision was driven by access, not numbers.
“Hello sir, I think if you want to help the system you aggressively criticise, it should be through constructive engagement and not mudslinging… that you don’t understand something or don’t agree with it doesn’t make everyone incurably mad as you say,” he posted.
He explained that taking the UTME to Canada is consistent with JAMB’s mandate to enhance access to education.
“Why are we opening access in Canada? UTME is currently being written in about 10 countries as a service to enhance access to education. We also conduct the exams in correctional service centres for the same reason. So the number of candidates is not the main driving force. Despite multiple centres in Africa, there are no centres in the whole North America. Specifically, there have been enquiries from potential candidates and we expect more following the announcement,” he said.
On who the centre is meant for, Aina said, “Who could possibly be interested? Any one of the 100s of people who move back yearly for one reason or the other including the children of many service personnel with tenured postings all around the world.”
The Registrar clarified that JAMB will not be buying a building or hiring permanent staff in Canada.
“Are we going to buy/rent a building and employ staff there? No! We partner with the Nigerian High Commissions in the various countries. We set up temporary spaces within their premises and use their staff to assist us run the exams,” he stated.
He added that no public fund has been spent on the initiative yet.
“Has any money been spent on this so far? No! We were in Canada for a conference and decided to use the opportunity to make this arrangement,” he said
The Board had earlier announced that the proposed Ottawa centre, which is expected to commence operations in 2027, will allow Nigerians resident in Canada and other parts of North America to sit for the UTME without travelling to Nigeria solely for the examination.
The plan was disclosed during Aina’s visit to the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, where he held discussions with the Nigerian Ambassador to Canada, Prof. Isaac Adewale. The meeting focused on using facilities within the High Commission premises for the examination.
Aina noted that the Ottawa centre will expand JAMB’s existing international network, which already includes centres in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, The Gambia and Côte d’Ivoire.
Responding, Ambassador Adewale described the initiative as a strategic step to market Nigerian tertiary education globally and reduce the financial outflow from Nigerians seeking education abroad.
The Registrar assured that the Board remains open to accountability.
“As someone who chose to serve, I will continue to look forward to being held to account by all manner of people both polite and rude but we must be objective and fair to people in service, we must be patriotic and promote our country. I’m sure in the course of my stewardship, I will give you good reason to drag me and the management. Just not today – we did a good thing,” he said.
