 |
| Brig-General Ibrahim |
Address by DG NYSC at the JAMB policy
meeting with Vice-Chancellors, Rectors and Registrars of Corps Producing
Institutions
Protocol
I
am pleased to address this august gathering of the top Management of Corps
Producing Institutions in Nigeria. Let me begin by appreciating the Registrar
and Chief Executive of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB),
Professor Is-haq Oloyede, for giving me the unique opportunity of addressing
this respected assembly. It is particularly heart-warming to be with you as a member
of this family, having served as a pioneer Registrar of the Nigerian Army
University Biu, before my recent appointment as the NYSC Director-General.
Permit
me to also thank JAMB for the success of our collaboration since the NYSC
commenced full computerisation of the mobilisation process with the launch of
our Integrated Online System in 2014. The collective efforts of the Registrar,
Management and Staff of JAMB towards eliminating malpractices during the
Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as well as streamlining of
admission policies for tertiary institutions also deserve commendation.
In
the same vein, I wish to express the appreciation of the support of Managements
of Corps Producing Institutions (CPIs) over the years, especially through the
regular attendance of your Students’ Affairs and Data Entry Officers at NYSC Pre-Mobilisation
Workshops. The experiences we have shared over the years have no doubt gone a
long way in ensuring seamless mobilisation of eligible graduates. We will,
therefore continue to count on the support of Corps Producing Institutions as
critical stakeholders in the mobilisation process.
Distinguished
ladies and gentlemen, the National Youth Service Corps has, over the years,
made sustained improvement in the mobilisation process through the adoption of
global best practices. We have constantly appraised the Online Integrated
System and infused a high level of transparency into it with a view to
achieving fool-proof mobilisation. However, despite our continuous deployment
of ICT solutions, we are still battling with challenges in the implementation
of some far reaching decisions which are geared towards enhancing the
credibility of the process.
I,
therefore, wish to use this unique forum to present for discussion, some of the
issues and challenges in the mobilisation process as follows:
Assignment
of Tasks to the Right Personnel
To
enhance integrity and efficiency in data management, the need to assign the
task of trustworthy personnel with right skills in ICT cannot be
overemphasised. This is to ensure that the digital information captured is not
corrupted and is assessed or modified by only authorised personnel. It is in
this regard that we have encouraged CPIs to appoint members of staff who are
skilled in ICT as Data Entry Officers (DEOs) and to ensure that only such
officers participate in the NYSC Pre-Mobilsation workshop training. In the same
vein, Students’ Affairs Officers (SAOs) should be of proven integrity.
Frequent
Change of Schedule officers
We
have observed the frequent change of Schedule Officers which tends to have
negative effects on the mobilisation process. In many cases the newly assigned
officers complain of not receiving handover notes or proper briefing on NYSC
matters from their predecessors. Although the change of Schedule Officers may
be necessary in given circumstances, we plead with you to as much as possible,
allow officers who have been trained and have acquired experience to remain on
the other schedules. Where the change becomes inevitable, the affected staff
should be mandated to properly hand over to their successors for continuity.
Poor
Data Capturing and Imputation by Corps Producing Institutions
The
success of the mobilisation process begins with the quality of data uploaded by
Corps Producing Institutions (CPIs). It is worrisome that after a series of
workshops organised to check poor data imputation by DEOs and SAOs, we still
find unpardonable errors and even irregularities in the upload of data by CPIs.
Mistakes such as omission of names, wrong Matric and JAMB numbers as well as
wrong date of birth, year of graduation and course of study, among others, are
indication of lack of thoroughness in the compilation of data. One of the reasons for these lapses is the
decision of some institutions to also saddle the same person with dual
schedules of Data Entry Officer and Students’ Affairs Officer. The two
schedules are distinct and should be handled by separate officers to ensure
check and balances. I wish to also appeal to you to ensure that knowledge
gained from the training of DEOs and SAOs is effectively utilised in order to
justify the huge investment made in such trainings.
Upload
of Unqualified and Non-Eligible Graduates by Corps Producing Institutions.
We
have observed cases of some suspected connivance whereby some approved
institutions help unapproved ones to mobilise unqualified graduates. Despites a
series of resolutions reached on this and other related issues, some CPIs
persistently upload names of unqualified and non-eligible graduates for
mobilisation. Some of the specific infractions include:
·
Upload
of names of persons who might not have gone to school at all;
·
Mobilisation
of graduates of unapproved institutions;
·
Upload
of part-time graduates as full time and vice versa;
·
Listing
of graduates of unaccredited courses under accredited courses; and
·
Manipulation
of data of some graduates to allow for double registration on the NYSC portal.
The
Scheme will continue to sanction erring institutions by blocking the
mobilisation of their graduates for at least two consecutive batches.
Furthermore, with effect from 2019 Batch
‘C’ mobilisation, Registrars and Students’ Affairs Officers of CPIs will be
required to fill indemnity form accepting liability for the data and documents they
upload on NYSC portal.
Ineffective
use of the Registrars Module
As
part of measures to ensure the consistency, accuracy and integrity of data
uploaded on the NYSC portal, we introduce the Registrar’s Module to enable Registrars
of CPIs to authenticate the content being uploaded by their officers before
submission. However, it has been observed that some Registrars are not making
effective usage of the Module, thus making attainment of the anticipated
benefits difficult. In some cases, the Registrars’ password is compromised
thereby exposing the uploaded data to the risk of manipulation.
Admission
of Candidates with Poor Foundation Certificates for Higher National Diploma
(HND) Programmes.
Our
effort to ascertain the credibility of HND certificates tendered for
registration at the Orientation Camps by crosschecking with the National
Diploma certificates obtained before admission to HND programmes, exposed cases
of non-adherence to admission requirements by some institutions. Many Polytechnics
admit candidates with University Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas, Polytechnic
Diplomas and even NCE for HND programmes as against the National Diploma Certificate.
Since JAMB does not regulate admissions to Higher National Diploma programmes,
NYSC will liaise with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to curb
this trend.
Disparity
in Course Nomenclature Uploaded for Graduates and the Ones on their Statements
of Result and Certificates
Management
has observed the increasing use of unapproved course nomenclatures on statements
of result by Corps Producing Institutions. Despite several resolutions on the stoppage
of this practice, many prospective Corps members have continued to present for registration,
on the orientation camps, statements of results and certificates with course
nomenclatures different from what is on the NYSC call-up letter. I have signed
a letter to the Vice Chancellors and Rectors giving a deadline for the affected
Corps Producing Institutions to correct these anomalies. We are constrained to inform
you that beginning with the 2019 Batch ‘C’ mobilisation, we shall no longer
register prospective corps members with course disparity on their Call-Up
Letters and Statements of Result and Certificates.
The
issue of JAMB admission letter and score sheet
The
mobilisation of prospective Corps members is often hampered by non-printing of
admission letter and score sheet from the authentic JAMB portal by Prospective
Corps Members (PCMs). Despite our continuous sensitisation of Corps members,
the problem has persisted. The consequence of this is that many of the PCIs are
prevented from registering as their data always enter the error list. We,
therefore, appeal to Corps Producing Institutions to enlighten the PCMs to
ensure printing of the admission letter and score sheet from the authentic JAMB
portal.
Distinguished
ladies and gentlemen, in bringing these issues to your attention, I am encouraged by the prospect of having your
support towards entrenching greater efficiency in the mobilisation process. You
will agree with me that this task requires collective stakeholders’
participation, especially through sharing of knowledge, ideas and experiences.
I, therefore, enjoin you to contribute whole-heartedly towards proffering solutions
to the identified problems.
I
thank you for listening and wish you fruitful deliberations.
Culled from Selected Speeches and
Strides of the 18th NYSC Director-General, Brig-Gen S. Ibrahim DSS
PhD MTRCN
Senseman
Publishers’ comment:
If
the charges to Corps Producing Institutions by the DG are strictly adhered to
and implemented, fake graduates will no longer enjoy mobilisation for National
Service under the General who has gone through the gamut of the Scheme.
Next……
Address
delivered by the Director-General, NYSC, Brig-General S. Ibrahim DSS PhD MTRCN,
at the opening ceremony of the NYSC Freedom of Information Desk Officers Workshop
held on Friday, June 14, 2019, at Rock View Hotel (Royale) Wuse II, Abuja.