Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said that it will provide necessary support to ensure that Nigerian students evacuated from the war-torn Sudan are integrated into the nation's universities.
The registrar of JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, made this known in Abuja when the chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, led others to the examination body's headquarters, to discuss modalities for integrating the affected students into tertiary institutions in the country.
Oloyede, who empathised with the students, commended NiDCOM for the effective handling of their evacuations, adding that JAMB would ensure the desired support.
"What we will do is that we will provide the necessary infrastructure, the necessary enablement to make you accommodate or return these candidates (students) to our educational system," Oloyede said.
The JAMB boss, however, called on the students not to tread the path of those who returned to the country over a year ago as a result of Russia-Ukraine war but refused to comply with the stipulated procedures that would have ensured they continue their academic programmes seamlessly in Nigerian universities.
He said, "We must thank NiDCOM for making efforts that the students are brought into the Nigerian university system and we have given the Commission the process and procedure.
"There are procedures (for transfer of students), the transcript, the rules and regulations, and that nobody should believe that Nigerian university will award certificate with less than two years stay and residency in the university, and the procedure is done legitimately and properly with the cooperation of the National Universities Commission and the individual institution. The guideline from JAMB has already been handed over to the chairperson of the Commission."
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He said thanked NiDCOM for making efforts for the students to be brought into the Nigerian university system, adding that they have given the commission the process and procedure.
On her part, NiDCOM chairman, Dabiri-Erewa, said 1,730 Nigerians have been evacuated from Sudan as of Tuesday, adding that majority of them were students eager to continue their education in Nigeria while waiting for the war to be over.
The NiDCOM boss assured that the necessary procedures will be followed to integrate the affected students into Nigerian higher institutions.
She said, "The key thing is that there are processes to follow but they are not difficult processes and that is what we learnt from JAMB."
