Jake Epelle is the CEO of TAF Africa and a member of albinism association of Nigeria. In an interview with News Central, speak on the issues of JAMB suspending concessions for Albino Candidates over the alleged abuse of the opportunity given to them. And he also speaks on the well-being, challenges, and rights of the Albino in society.
News Central reports that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board JAMB has cancelled special registration concessions previously granted to candidates with albinism, citing widespread abuse of the policy through identity manipulation and examination malpractice.
The decision was announced in Lagos during a meeting between JAMB management led by registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede and commissioners for education from the 36 states and the FCT ahead of the 2026 unified tertiary metrication examination.
According to Professor Oloyede, some candidates allegedly used artificial intelligence and other means to falsely present themselves as persons with albinism to benefit from special consideration.
With over 7,000 candidates claiming albinism in the previous examination year. As a result, JAMB has discontinued special registration procedures for albinism candidates.
Registral also addressed broader integrity issues in the admission process, including undergraduate students sitting UTME for others, on admissions, deceptive practices by some faith-based institutions, and efforts to curb malpractice through stricter accreditation of CBT centers.
Now, JAMB maintains that the move is necessary to protect the credibility of the examination process.
The decision has raised concerns about its implications for candidates with albinism who face genuine visual and health-related challenges and standardized testing environment.
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In this interview with News Central, Mr. Jake Epelle, the founder of the Albina Foundation Africa, shares insight regarding the concession, visual health challenges, and the rights of persons with albinism in society.
Jake maintains that they have transitioned because they now serve a wider community of persons with disabilities. And the name has changed to TAF Africa. This stands for Tough Africa TA all Right Foundation, and they have begun to have a footprint in some other African countries.
“I am a person without albinism, and I’m very proud to be a person without albinism. The concession that individuals like me with several organizations fought for is now in trouble.”
According to Jake, ironically, I was the chair of the committee that investigated, and we flagged this issue of people trying to use our face because of certain biological reasons by biometrics, like certain cameras take my photograph, if you watch the photograph, you see a red dot in my eyes.
Jake emphasized that because of our issues with our retina, there are certain light elements that we rebuff, so that gives these fraudster opportunity to actually take my face, blend it with another person’s face, and get a completely different individual maintaining the facial structure.
“That’s just a common man’s explanation of what is happening, and they’ve been exploiting this, using the faces of persons with albinism.”
He adds that “Jamb did the right thing, but it’s not a cancellation, it’s a suspension of the concession, so that at the back end, we will identify who is truly a person with albinism, and the person eventually will get the concession one way or the other. So it’s more like a suspension, pending the conclusion of an investigation?”
According to Epelle, “I was in touch with Prof. Ishaq, and we are talking to make sure that we have a criterion that any person with albinism can follow, and once he’s identified as a person with albinism, he gets the concession. The concessions are much more than what you’re seeing.”
What are these concessions?
Jake said, “There are fee concessions attached to it. For instance, I belong to what they call an equal opportunity group job which conducts examination, not only for persons with albinism, but for persons with disability and that’s a good work that often is not talked about.”
“The fact that JAMB has a special examination day center for persons with disabilities and JAMB will pay for them to come in, put them in a hotel, give them the best of food, give them a gift just for them to participate in that examination.”
Many of us who are invigilators are paid honoraria; sometimes, in the context of honoraria, some honoraria don’t have honor. Even at that, for instance, the issue of time and a half, which has not been most excluded, many examiners do not practice it.
“The time-and-a-half concept is a global concept that says, if there’s an examination, if a person with albinism or a visually impaired person is taking that examination, and if the examination is for one hour, that person will have 1 hour and 30 minutes.”
The time-and-a-half concept has been in place since. apart from those special examinations.
He stated that “Once you go through, and you pass your exam, prof. And many of us will painstakingly ensure that you get admission. Provided you meet and surpass the cutoff mark, because we promote meritocracy.”
We will ensure that you get admission, and then there’s also a follow-through as you are in the university or any tertiary institution. We just follow through to make sure you are getting the access that you require. take for instance, I’m at loggerheads with the NEL fund.
What is NEL FUND?
NELFUND (Nigerian Education Loan Fund) is a Federal Government of Nigeria initiative designed to provide interest-free loans for tuition and upkeep to students in public tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and vocational schools). Established through the Student Loans Act 2023, it aims to eliminate financial barriers, enabling students to focus on academic growth, with repayments starting only after gainful employment.
“The Nel Fund gives a loan to a blind candidate. And will not give any form of loan or support services to the aid. How will the person go to school?”
“If you give me a loan and I cannot see, and you don’t give the person who will lead me to the school, invariably I will take the money and put it somewhere else, I won’t go to school, so sometimes I think government policy makers and implementers need to listen.”
I have written to NELFUND. I spoke to Mr. Sawyerr for Granted. He admitted that yes, something can be done, but they are not prioritizing it. And I think that needs to happen.
Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), was appointed by President Bola Tinubu.
Jake maintains that “I do struggle despite the glasses, which don’t help us. This sort protects me from light. I do have some technology that I can use, but if I open it, I have to squint and bury my eyes into it to be able to read it.”
These are some of the challenges. So, when you give a loan to a person with albinism, you’re not giving him or her anything he needs.
Jake added, When I set up my computer, I set it up in such a way that there’s a lifter that brings it up to my eyes, and that’s me, and that’s because I can afford that. What about the common man? What about the person whose parents are looking for one square meal? He can afford it.
“When you’re given such a loan, you have to strategically think of the support services that you provide, so that the person that you’re trying to help will enjoy the help and make the most of it. The most vulnerable in our society must not be forgotten. And that’s why it is important that every time there’s a policy, they include persons with disabilities. I’ve done seven policies for this country.”
“Every time there’s a policy, we need to sit down and ensure that the people you’re making policies for are in the room. because you don’t know what they feel, you don’t know their challenges until you start asking questions, start engaging, and allow me to be part of the process.”
The concession cancellation is just a pause, and it’s so that the wrong people will not take advantage of it again.
Oloyede is one of the most compassionate Nigerians that I know. Please, I don’t work for him. I’m just stating the truth, and that’s it.”
From a disability rights perspective, there is a concern about whether the current decision promotes inclusive education or appears discriminatory. The intent is to prevent misuse of policy while working towards inclusion. Questions arise regarding measures for ensuring deserving individuals access services, the status of an investigation, and steps being taken to address these issues.
“We have been in this organization for 20 years, and so I’ve entrenched system. I have leadership at the grassroots, and I’ve raised people. And what we are doing currently is pull back and engage systematically.”
Jake said “There is the commission for persons with disabilities, and there is a parallel organization, which I started called albinism association of Nigeria.
It is well structured because I handed over several branches across the country to them. I’m getting old, so I pull back for the younger ones to continue, and I’m very proud of the work that they are doing. These are organizations with systems that we can check.”
The issue with persons with albinism is very easy. If you have albinism, number one, you have a visible presence of a lack of melanin.
“Two things make you a person with albinism. One is ocular. That means you do have a lack of melanin; lack does not mean absence. It’s insufficient.”
“Melanin is the chemical composition that is responsible for coloration, not only for skin, and that’s why God is awesome. It’s not only responsible for the skin, but also for everything in the body.
God is awesome, because of this lack of melanin, your ocular, even if you have black hair, but you have blue eyes.”
Jake points out that” I acquired freckles because, as I expose myself to the sun, the sun has a way of forcing melanin, and it produces on my skin as black spots called freckles; it’s not that dangerous, but it can be, for those who are exposing themselves to the sun. You never see me without a hat. I’m trying to cover my face, which has already been destroyed by the sun.”
and is obviously when you have albinism, you’re either ocular or cutaneous. Do you need a prophecy to know that I’m a person with albinism? It’s there.
To find out if you are persons with albino, we will follow the physical and scientific examination of albinism, and your eyes can be tested, if you claim to have that. And we can also follow track records, too.
Just to clarify, as you’ve mentioned, some people don’t have complete albinism, then those who maybe the color of their hair that is affected, and maybe not the other parts, do they benefit from these concessions?
According to Epelle, having albinism is not a status; it is a biological condition. If you’re an ocular, an ocular means that only your eyes are affected. You still have albinism.
Now here’s the shocking thing, because you can be as dark as, and still have the albinism gene. And it’s just waiting for manifestation, because it jumps from one generation to the other.
You either have ocular or Oculocutaneous, there must be those features in you that qualify you to benefit from this concession.
“If you are the way you are with your good eyes, yet you probably gave birth to a person without albinism, you’re not qualified. You carry the gene, but the gene did not come into manifestation.
You can still use your eyes; your skin doesn’t really stop you from going to the sun.”
But I want to also put a caveat, even when the manifestation is not in you, be careful because, if you are a gene carrier and your gene is positive, you can still pick up skin cancer. I’m a skin cancer survivor.
The two main types of albinism
The first is Oculocutaneous Albinism (OCA), which impacts the eyes, skin, and hair.
Secondly, Ocular Albinism (OA) mostly affects the eyes. Due to decreased melanin production in the skin, hair, and eyes, OCA is the most common type.
For those who are enjoying it and those who want to take advantage of it, it has been paused, with no direction on when it will be resumed.
Jake added that “before this cycle is over, it will be resumed, but what we are trying to do is take a back seat, work from the back end, and ensure that the right people will benefit from it.
We’re going to begin to scrutinize whoever wants to be, pass through the association, and the association will not impose any criteria. It’s absolutely free.”
According to him, I will also use this opportunity to appeal to JAMB to support the association in the way of building their capacity, helping them to have a structure, giving them the opportunity to understand how the system works, so that they can help in identifying these people.
” It’s also an opportunity, and this is for a larger community of persons with disabilities. The digital illiteracy amongst us is alarming. I can tell you 80% of people with disabilities cannot open a computer.”
This is the technological age; you can’t survive without technology. For some of us, nobody taught us anything about computers. I learned the hard way, and I can tell you today I’m an expert in many of the software, he added.
Jake reiterated that there’s a need for all the tech guys to invest in technology that will help people with disabilities.
“Basically, JAMB has that responsibility to help the association build them, because the category and demography of kids that are going into school is huge.
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We have policies, but we need to put an implementation strategy in place, so that we can get results, because a bad policy is a bad policy if it’s not producing results.”
What is the general assessment of where we are, and the projection for where we ought to go to.?
Epelle maintains that the narrative we’ve been pushing to take away this concept of tokenism, charity, like, Jake doesn’t see, so please make sure there’s light in the room, and move to a right based approach, where you know that is his right to enjoy certain privileges. is not set aside for some people and for some people, they don’t get it. How has society fared? We haven’t done much.
There are all kinds of policies and systems in place that they are trying to either cultivate, evolve, or implement.
“We’re not seeing tangible results and impact. I just came out of a retreat with my team, and I said to them that I am troubled, in the sense that I want to see life transformed,” he said.
“I want to see transformational change in the lives of the people that we are leading. I want to see more people go to school.
And I’m beginning to also probe myself. When I started, I was sending kids to school, at a point when we had 250 kids in school.
I was able, by his grace, to send Oluchi to the university, and she came back with a master’s degree and three others.”
According to the TAF founder, he said that two of my cleaners in the office and the girl who is at the front desk office, both of them, by his grace, have been able to send to university.
I want to see tangible evidence-based transformational change in this society; if one person is left behind, others can’t move forward.
This society owes it a duty, not mere privilege, to ensure that persons with disabilities and the most vulnerable, women, youth, and persons with disabilities, and that is the full concept of DEI diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We want to ensure that this society caters to them. If you don’t, then you’re not an inclusive society, you’re an exclusive society. If you do, then you are an inclusive society.
Today is changing because we’re pushing the narrative, we need inclusive media, and I want to see a person with disability and albinism, read your news.
Now it’s possible because they are teleporters that, once you put your laptop in it, it’s running on it.
The society needs to understand the complexities of persons with disabilities.
“I’m just who I am. I’m not who I am because of what I do. I am who I am. Just like money doesn’t make me who I am, money adds to what I am.”
Jake concluded by telling the analyst to please make that decision today, so that she can take two or three persons with disabilities, women in particular, and let them become her mentees. Emphasized that she has been blessed with Gods graced and has been given certain influence.
He further stated, “You have a voice and a face. Let’s use it as a stepping-stone for others to ascend and explore further.
please many of them will be very happy to have a celebrity friend like yours, and at the same with my good-looking brother. So let’s see what we can do for this society.”
“Let’s not leave society in the same state we meet it. I want to go to the grave one day and beat my chest to say I served my generation.”
Let us represent and be a voice for change.