Education
80,000 Sit For Rescheduled UTME
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, Saturday, expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the rescheduled 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Adamu, who alongside the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, monitored the exam at the Computer Based Test Centre located in Mambilla Barracks, Asokoro, Abuja, expressed delight over the smooth conduct of the exercise.
Addressing journalists at the centre, Adamu said, “I am very happy with what I have seen. Regarding the (temporary) holding room (for candidates), and the arrangement where they are taking the examination, I think everything is in order.
“Everything is okay, have you seen any problem? Perhaps they should have a class for the holding room, I think that is the only improvement they will make here,” Adamu said.
Meanwhile, JAMB’s Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in an interview with journalists at the venue, said about 80,000 candidates, who could not sit for the 2023 UTME within their scheduled time owing to no fault of theirs, sat for the rescheduled UTME across the country.
According to the JAMB’s spokesperson, the candidates affected include those who were verified at their centres but could not sit the examination, those who could not be biometrically verified, and those with mismatched data, among other.
He said the deployment of innovations in the conduct of the exam paid off bountifully as the exercise recorded the lowest reported cases of infractions.
“In this year’s UTME, the issue of examination malpractices was reduced to almost zero level,” Benjamin said.
On when the results of the rescheduled UTME would be released by the examination body, Benjamin said the board’s management will analyse the conduct of the exercise after its conclusion before it will make a decision on that.
The Tide Correspondent gathered that the board on Tuesday released the results of candidates who had earlier taken part in the exam, which commenced on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
A total of 1,586,765 candidates registered for the 2023 UTME.
A professor of Highway Engineering at the Rivers State University (RSU), Prof. Emmanuel Osilemme Ekwulo, has identified poor designs, inadequate materials, insufficient testing, and lack of accountability as major obstacles to the success of highway construction projects in the country.
Ekwulo made this remark in Port Harcourt last Wednesday during the 128th inaugural lecture series of the university, where he presented a lecture titled “Removing Roadblocks: Rebuilding a Foundation for Reliable Highway Pavement Infrastructure.”
The university don lamented the consistent premature failures of road construction projects nationwide, despite huge investments by the government at all levels, attributing the problem to neglected basics and systemic principles in the industry.
According to him, rebuilding the foundation technically, institutionally, and ethically is crucial to building strong and lasting pavements.
Ekwulo emphasized the need for political will, professional integrity, and commitment to engineering excellence to overcome the challenges.
“The metaphoric roadblocks are those challenges causing premature failures,” Ekwulo said, adding that identifying and addressing these roadblocks is key to rebuilding the nation’s highways.
He recommended that institutions involved in road design and construction adopt a mechanistic-empirical design approach, and develop a comprehensive framework for implementing the Nigerian Imperial and Mechanistic Pavement Design System (NEMPADS) approach.
Ekwulo also advocated for mandatory traffic load analysis, strengthened university-industry collaboration, and funding for applied pavement research.
Corruption, he noted, is a major challenge in the profession, saying severe punitive measures are needed to curb shabby practices leading to premature road failures.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Isaac Zeb-Obipi, described Ekwulo’s lecture as interesting and intriguing, highlighting the importance of implementing solutions to Nigeria’s highway challenges.
The Vice Chancellor also described Ekwulo’s proposals as practical and applicable to government and industry stakeholders.
He said the university is committed to research aligned with national development goals, referencing its NDV-12 responsive consortium production framework.
Zeb-Obipi noted that Ekwulo’s recommendations are timely and solution-driven, and will contribute to addressing Nigeria’s highway challenges.
Akujobi Amadi
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