By Sodiq Adelakun

In a joint effort to safeguard the integrity of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the police have issued a stern warning to candidates, cautioning them against engaging with fake websites.

During a joint news conference held in Abuja on Saturday, representatives from both JAMB and the police emphasized the prevalence of fraudulent websites designed to deceive unsuspecting candidates.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, highlighted the existence of numerous fake platforms created by unscrupulous individuals with the sole aim of misleading hopeful candidates.

As the countdown to the UTME continues, authorities urge candidates to exercise vigilance and verify the authenticity of websites offering registration services or exam-related information. With the stakes high for thousands of aspiring students, the collaboration between JAMB and law is seen as a welcome development.

He called on candidates to be wary of their tactics, stressing that the fake web sites were designed to deceive innocent candidates into providing personal details such as registration numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers.

“Both JAMB and the Nigeria Police Force condemn these fraudulent activities and hereby reiterate the readiness to safeguard the interests of candidates and maintain the integrity of the examination process.

“We urge parents, guardians, and all stakeholders to ensure that candidates print their UTME Notification Slips only from the Board’s approved website: www.jamb.gov.ng,” he said.

Adejobi pointed out that the force was familiar with the tactics employed by fraudsters, especially during the annual assessment and admission exercises.

He, therefore, said that both organisations were actively sensitising candidates and the public about these deceptive practices.

“Any candidate who visits these fake sites will definitely have unreliable information and thereby miss out on the forthcoming exams.

“Any website other than www.jamb.gov.ng offering UTME slip printing services is fake and designed to defraud candidates,” he said.

On his part, the JAMB spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, assured of the Board’s commitment to continue playing its role.

He, therefore, urged candidates to ignore any unsolicited messages noting that they were from elements who aim at defrauding candidates.

Recall that the 2024 UTME is scheduled to commence on Friday, April 19, and end on April 29.

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) will upgrade all the study centres of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) with fibre optics to transmit information and data with the speed of light.

The Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters, said this during a pre-convocation news conference on Monday, ahead of its 13th convocation slated for April 13, in Abuja.

Fibre optics, or optical fibre, refers to the technology that transmits information as light pulses along a glass or plastic fibre.

Mr Peters said the rate of technology advancement at NOUN attracted the offer from TETFund.

“Right now, our academics all over the faculties and departments have video components to assist our students and we deploy this with ease.

“And because of the manner we deploy technology, TETFund has offered to assist us with fibre optics in all our study centres across the country.

“It is a testimony to where we are in terms of technology,” Mr Peters said.

He said that a lot of Nigerians were yet to understand how the university operates in spite of its years of existence in the country.

Mr Peters noted that the institution had brought development to many towns and villages where the university had its study centres.

“The forthcoming convocation would be an opportunity to showcase what the institution can do with technology,” he said.

Mr Peters said that 22,175 students in various disciplines across the country would be graduating on April 13.

He said the graduating students would join the convocation via technology from its 120 study centres across the country.

“Of this number, 15,768 are undergraduate degrees, while 6,407 are for postgraduate degrees, with the Faculty of Social Sciences producing the highest number of graduates.

“Twenty-two of these students are first class, 2,362 are PGD graduates, while 41 are Masters and six are leaving the institution as PHD holders.

“This is an indication that the school is gradually moving towards establishing a more robust postgraduate school,” he said.

Mr Peters said the interesting part of the convocation would be the conferment of an investiture on the University’s new Chancellor, His Royal Majesty, Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, with a Doctorate Degree, and his installation as the Chancellor.

He said that the convocation lecture would be delivered by the Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania, Prof. Elifas Bisanda, with the topic: “Is Western education still relevant for Africa.”

The NOUN VC said the lecture would direct Nigeria and Africa in general to areas which would be useful to citizens.

He added that the lecture would be followed by the conferment of honorary Doctorate Degrees on Dr Innocent Chukwuma, the chief executive officer of Innoson Motors, and Hafsatu Abdulwaheed, the first female novelist in northern Nigeria and an eminent activist.

“Dr Chukwuma is a well-known Nigerian entrepreneur and founder of Innoson Motors, and his creativity and commitment to local content, is one of the reasons the university considered it fit to honour him.

“The second person, Hajia Hafsatu, has dedicated her works to promoting education, particularly for girls, and she believes in the transformative power of literacy to uplift communities and break the circle of poverty.

“These two awardees reflect the core values of NOUN which is entrepreneur ingenuity and knowledge-based content creativity,” Mr Peters said.

By Sodiq Adelakun

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has given its approval for the University of Lagos Distance Learning Institute (DLI) to introduce four new programmes in the upcoming academic session.

The approved programmes set to commence in the next academic session include the Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Bachelor of Science in Finance, Bachelor of Education in Guidance and Counselling, and Bachelor of Educational Administration.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Folasade Ogunsola revealed this information in her address at the blended matriculation ceremony for newly admitted students of the DLI.

Ogunsola expressed the University’s commitment to providing quality education through its Distance Learning Institute and welcomed the new students to the institute’s academic community during the matriculation ceremony for the 2023/2024 academic session.

The Vice-Chancellor commended the freshers for choosing the open distance learning form of education, describing it as the way of the future and charged them to be of good character in deed and in truth.

The Distance Learning Institute serves as the operational and coordinating arm of the university’s open and distance learning programmes, enjoying an elevated status akin to that of a faculty within the institution.

With its own management and academic boards, the institute holds the authority to devise policies, hire staff, oversee academic programs and examinations, manage daily operations, and generate funds independently for its activities.