As the 2026 unified tertiary matriculation examination, UTME, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, initiates the registration process for admission seekers.
The issue of people living with disabilities and albinism, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation examination JAMB has cancelled special concessions and registration to allow for people with albinism, citing that the system has been compromised, people are using it to perpetrate malpractice, and abuse the process.
It was reported that about 7000 persons who are not albino take advantage of and hide under albinism to register for JAMB.
And people with albinism have also abused the opportunity given to them by coming and using artificial intelligence to answer questions in the examination hall.
These were part of the decisions arrived at on Saturday when the management of the board, led by the registrar, Professor Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, met with the commissioners for education in the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory, Abuja, in Ikeja, Lagos.
Prof. Ishaq, who said the meeting was to review and assess the previous exercise, said despite the numerous steps taken by the examination body, some unscrupulous persons were bent on circumventing the process.
In an interview with Jake Epelle, he is the CEO of Albno Foundation (TAF) Africa.
In the interview, he points out that measures have been put in place to checkmate the process, starting from back-end verification and others.
According to Jake Epelle, the CEO of Albon Foundation (TAF) Africa, said
“There are good policies, and there are bad policies.
This is one good policy, and to say that the concession given to persons with albinism, JAMB did not do outright cancellation.
It’s more or less to pause that concession so that the wrong people will not take advantage of it.”
Jake maintains that it is not correct to say that persons with albinism were part of the group that was abusing the process or that concession.
Jake said this is what happened.
“There is facial morphing, which is facial swapping using AI, a situation where they can take they face, take the features on they face, eyes, and nose, and blend it with another person’s face.”
“Jake revealed that one of the technical things about a biological person with albinism is that our eye rays does rebuff light. So I’m sitting here, but I’m not seeing the face of the person opposite me in totality, so maybe tomorrow you see me and pass, and you think I don’t want to greet you. That’s the problem. Glasses do not help us.”
“So, what these people were doing was charlatans and those who want to undermine the integrity of our education sector, they would take several faces and blend them, especially the face of persons with albinism and blend it to get their own face, so that they can gain access to the examination, and do whatever they want to do.
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Often, they make money out of it. So there’s no single record.”
He said, “I’m privileged and proud to chair the committee that investigated examination malpractice, and I dare say that I don’t speak for JAMB, but JAMB is one of the best institutions when it comes to using technology to get results.”
“The subject matter focuses on persons with albinism. I am in firm conversation with JAMB, and this issue will be resolved.
What we did was to pause the situation so that they can verify who has albinism, who doesn’t have albinism, and eventually, they will get a concession.”
Jake maintains that, for any person with albinism, please don’t lose your sleep. Go there, do the normal registration as every other person.
“There will be a back-end verification through the National Commission for persons with disabilities, through the albinism association of Nigeria, which is an organization that I formed and handed over to younger ones.”
Jake said, the point is the concession still stands. It’s just that we want to make sure that the right people will get the benefit and not the wrong people.
“What are the strategies for people living with albinism, ensuring their inclusion in the process, and then, what is the timeline for their anticipated resolution and subsequent return of the concessions?”
According to Epelle, he said that the timeline is in the hands of JAMB and management. There’s a discussion, and I trust whatever Prof. Ishaq tells me, and also, for conflict of interest, I am one of the team, an invigilator in the special examination established by JAMB.
“This is what they don’t tell you, an equal opportunity group is a special examination platform for persons with disability blind and deaf, who take this examination free of charge.”
“For the blind, somebody will read for them, for the deaf, somebody will sign for them, and for persons with albinism, they will get a time and a half.”
Moreover, he says, “I believe this is one piece of information that this platform needs to promote.”
He further revealed that “There is a global policy that is time and a half. It allows the blind and the visually impaired to get extra time during the examination.”
“When I criticized Wace, they promised to implement. I don’t think they were implementing it. Neco is not implementing it. Jamb is the only institution that is implementing it.”
“Meanwhile is a global standard procedure for the visually impaired. And these are some of the pieces of information that a lot of people don’t know. Some people have approached me. I’m a member of the National Council on Education. Some people are, oh well, they’re doing you a favor. They’re not doing us a favor.”
“It’s our right. And we need to treat disability as a human rights issue, not charity. You’re not doing me a favor by letting me know that. And by the way, I’m very proud to be a person with albinism. Jake said.”
“I’m not asking for anything less. So, you’re not doing me a favor by telling me, “Oh, you don’t see, so let me provide a blackboard for you.” No, it’s my right for you to provide a blackboard for me.”
Those who have their slips already with albinism this year, will they still write JAMB and enter school?
Jake has this to say about those who already have slips for albinism this year, whether they will still write JAMB and enter school.
According to Jake, ” But here’s the point. They will this year. Yes, they will.
I’ve seen Ishaq take the phone and call the universities to ensure these people are admitted based on merit. He adds, I will not push for anything that is not based on merit.”
“You cannot tell me that, as I have albinism and the cutoff score is 120. You want me to push for your admission when you have 100.
In the past, I’ve made my own family member go back and write JAMB again, because they didn’t get the cut-off mark, and I think we should promote meritocracy. Epelle stated”
Another area of concern is the side of religious faith-based institutions. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has urged them to disclose their status from the outset, saying that pretending to be secular to attract applicants and later imposing religious rules is a form of deception.
On the faith-based institutions coming up with another secular institution after the student has been admitted, insisting on prayer times on uniform, Jake Epelle highlighted a few points on it.
Epelle explains that “It’s unfortunate, especially in this country where we pretend with our faith, many of them are not even true.
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I think it’s high time we understand that governance is secular and has very little to do with religion. I’m a person of faith; you keep your faith; I keep my faith.”
” Let me answer with a question.”
He further revealed, “A typical Muslim or Christian who goes to an international conference, most of whom are government officials, do they pause the conference to go and pray?”
Let me be direct.
“Has the vice president ever paused the economic summit to go and pray? Let’s stop this pretense.”
“Whether it’s Christian or Muslim, your personal relationship with God and how you carry yourself matters, is not about what you pretend politically or socially to project.”
Epelle concluded by saying, “We need to allow the education sector to run and take its course. I speak authentically,30% of the certificates you see parading themselves are fake.”