- Portal refuses to acknowledge applicants’ NIN provided by NIMC
- Deadline for registration imminent
By Chioma Obinagwam
Some Nigerian students and prospective undergraduates intending to sit for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination/ Direct Entry (UTME/DE) organised by Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have bemoaned their inability to register for the examinations.
Investigations conducted by Confiance News on Saturday showed that the intending candidates are experiencing multiple unsuccessful requests from the USSD code- 55019, provided by JAMB for authenticating applicants National Identity Number (NIN), which is a prerequisite for registering for the exams.
According to JAMB, applicants are expected to send SMS written NIN (in capital letters) space their NIN in figures to 55019.
Unfortunately, when they perform the above function, they get error messages denoting that that their NIN is invalid rather than generate their ‘profile codes’.
A ‘profile code’, Confiance News learnt, enables applicants visit accredited CBT centers to complete their registration.
Some of the error messages sent to the phone of the applicants are,”
‘No record found for NIN, check NIN or contact or contact NIMC.’
‘The NIN you submitted is invalid. Please, cross-check and re-submit.’”
Confiance News also gathered that for every SMS sent to the USSD code 55019, applicants are charged N50.
Read more: JAMB sets new date for mock exams
This implies that they were made to pay for a service not rendered despite typing the correct code.
On March 26, Confiance News recalls that JAMB took to its official Twitter handle to announce that the registration for the UTME/DE examinations begin on 8th of April through 15th of May 2021 and NIN is a prerequisite for the registration.
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According to Adodo Ihoabhie, a parent of one the students in that difficulty,”Please government is making it impossible for millions of students to register for jamb oo. People who registered for NIN and got their number months ago like my son did in February can still not register for jamb because NIMC in Lagos can’t upload to server in Abuja there registration.
Worse still, JAMB, which is also the Nigerian entrance examination board for tertiary-level institutions, announced on Twitter that “Optional Mock will be held on Friday, 30th April, 2021 (for those who indicate interest and registered before 24th of April, 2021.”
The difficulty in the identification of the NIN of these students mean that they would not participate in the mock exams even if they wanted to and may not participate in the JAMB examinations if the problem persists.
“Jamb can’t assess candidates NIN for this reason. It’s a National crisis and thousands of SS3 students are not being registered. Jamb registration is gradually coming to close and cannot even sit for jamb mock. Parents are in dilemma. Even people who register as at January this year and got their NIN can’t still be registered in Lagos. How do I flagg this for government intervention? I have been to NIMC in Alausa twice but the story won’t change, “no network,” Adodo lamented.
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More so, confirmed sources close to a school in Ikotun, Lagos State, who pleaded anonymity, noted that most of the students in the school cannot get their ‘profile codes’ sent to them because of same problems cited by Mr. Adodo.
Corroborating, a Tweep known as Damosco bemoaned the same plight as Mr. Adodo and visited the comment section of the official Twitter handle of JAMB to pour out his frustration.
He said,” Please have been trying to link my NIN to generate profile code, buh it’s writing no record found. And my NIN is correct.”
Damosco’s tweet, however, caused stir as other applicants suffering similar predicament reacted.
Please have been trying to link my NIN to generate profile code, buh it's writing no record found.
And my NIN is correct
— Damosco (@itz_damosco) April 8, 2021
Another Tweep, named Khalee cried, “Nin linkage is not working please scrap this thing and let use the normal process and I have to register before 24th of this month.”
Nin linkage is not working please scrap this thing and let use the normal process and I have to register before 24th of this month
— ⚡khalee⚡ (@FridayKhalee) April 19, 2021
Reacting, the spokesperson of JAMB, Fabian Benjamin stated the major reason why the JAMB portal fails to acknowledge their NIN is because some applicants fail to type the correct SMS to the 55019 code.
Although he did not rule out the possibility of network issues, he noted that it could be experienced by a small fraction of intending candidates and is optimistic that a good number of applicants will sit for the exams.
Confiance News, however, recalls that the linking of SIM cards with NINs, which began on December 16, 2020 and has had its deadlines shifted four times, has sparked public outcry among Nigerians due to the difficulties in registering at NIMC offices that expectedly are thronged with people scampering for registration.
