Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculations Board, JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede said the federal government’s decision to remove mathematics as a requirement for students seeking admission to study courses in arts and humanities will curb forgery.
Oloyede said this during the formal opening ceremony of the Jihad week programme organised by Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, University of Ibadan, and inauguration of Ad-dhikr Magazine, yesterday in Ibadan.
The JAMB registrar said the policy had long been in existence, but was not implemented and what the Ministry of Education did was to align with the reality on ground in order to discourage forgery.
“How will you say somebody that wants to study Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa or Arabic should not have university admission because of they did not have credit in mathematics, when such a person could go to London University to study Yoruba without mathematics.
“What the Ministry of Education is doing is realigning the policy with the reality on ground and it is in our interest not to encourage forgery,” the JAMB registrar said.
Oloyede, a guest lecturer, who spoke on the event’s theme: “The Paragon”, said a paragon is someone to be emulated, urging all Muslims to strive to be a paragon and a role model wherever they are.
He said MSSN, being a Muslim mass movement organisation, must bring all Muslims together without discrimination and propagate Islam, not only by preaching, but also by their conduct.
“MSSN has the capacity to invite people to see the beauty of Islam and it must continue to do that, build genuine and sincere relationship among one another,” the former vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin said.
Also, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Idris Adeoye commended the founding fathers of MSSN for nurturing and guiding Muslim students, urging them to be complete Muslims and ambassadors of Islam.
Adeoye urged youths to believe in the country and shun acts that could jeopardise their future.
Earlier, the Amir of MSSN, University of Ibadan, Umar Faruq, said it is worrisome that a lot of abnormalities in the society are seen as being normal and anyone who attempts to correct it is termed wicked.
Faruq called on Muslims, especially youths, to shun internet fraud, alcohol consumption and other things that are against the dictates of God and the Quran.
“As Muslims, we must stand tall and be role models in our deeds, academically, spiritually and mentally,” he said.
Also speaking, the Vice President of Muslim Ummah, South West Nigeria, MUSWEN, Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti, said MSSN has a vital role to play not only in Islam, but also in educational development in Nigeria.
Ebiti said things are changing in the society and MSSN needs to adapt positively to those changes and bring more Muslims on board without descrimination.
MSSN is a large Islamic student organisation founded in 1954 to promote Islamic education, unity and welfare among Muslim students across Nigeria. It is a major student organisation that engages in socio-cultural, educational and religious activities, including vocational training, leadership programmes and inter-school competitions. (NAN)
