JAMB applicants in Ogun State protest inability to register for NIN 2020 UTME

About more than 100 teenagers wishing to write the 2020 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB ) exam next year on Wednesday protested at Abeokuta over their frustration and inability to register for the National Identity Number (NIN) at Ogun state office of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Abeokuta.

JAMB had last Tuesday mandated that anybody writing its 2020 examination must obtain NIN from NIMC as it was part of its efforts to curb malpractices. This NIN is generated from registration for National Identity Card.

The teenagers who stormed Ogun NUJ Secretariat Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta have however expressed their anger against the shabby treatment being given at the NIMC office since last week that they claimed to have been going there.

They explained that the NIMC officials had cited lack of power supply and fuel to run their generator as the major reason why they have been unable to attend to them and that their decision to also contribute some amount of money to buy fuel for their generator was rejected.

Speaking during the protest, Oluwatomi Oyindamola said,

 “we have been going there for a long time, some of us are from a far distance, some of us are not even from this State, we came all the way from Lagos State. And we have been coming for more than a week, we have spent so much on transportation.

“We are coming here because we are Nigerians because we can do it anywhere. There is no power and the queue is always very long in Lagos. We got the information that it is always very fast here that is why some of us are here in Abeokuta.

“But when we got here, we were told the same story of no electricity to power their gadgets. This is a Federal government establishment and it should not be so. They should have something to fall back on when there is no electricity.

“Telling us that there is no fuel in their generator is like a fraud, it is like there is something fishy going on. And JAMB needs this card to complete our Jamb registration. We are appealing to those in charge to please stop treating us this bad, we need our National Identity Cards for the JAMB exam”.

Similarly, Ewetade Gbolahan said “We have been going to the NIMC office for over a week now. And since then, they have been telling us that there is no fuel in their generator to power their gadgets. Sometimes, they will tell us that they have called the PHCN office to give them power but still, there was no electricity.

“Some of us go to their office as early as 6am. They also told us that the government did not give them money to buy fuel for their generator. We need help Jamb registration is coming up and without the National ID card, we can’t do anything. If the government can’t provide the necessary things for the NIMC offices to function, maybe Jamb should remove National Identity card as a requirement from the registration process”.

One of the parents of the children who joined them in the protest, Abubakar called on the federal government to suspend payment of N5000 for registration of the National Identity Number which will take effect from the month of November describing it as additional burden to parents who were already finding it difficult to cope with the harsh economy.