• Monarch seeks revival of technical colleges for human development 

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned universities against issuing admission letters to candidates, insisting that only admissions processed through its Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) are legally recognised.

It insisted that universities have no statutory authority to issue official admission letters, warning that candidates who accept admission offers outside the approved system risk having documents that may not be recognised for official purposes, including mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, gave the warning when he received a delegation from Veritas University, Bwari, Abuja, during a courtesy visit to his office.

In another development, the Chairman of Lokoja Traditional Council and Maigari of Lokoja, Ibrahim Kabir, has urged the Federal Ministry of Education to revive and restore the old technical colleges across the country to boost the skills acquisition policy.

The monarch, who spoke at the flag-off of a five-day intensive skills acquisition training for 120 youths in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, also urged the federal and state ministries of work to create skills acquisition departments to train the army of Nigerian youths seeking sources of livelihood.

Meanwhile, Aina said the Federal Ministry of Education had expressly directed that all admissions into tertiary institutions be processed through CAPS, stressing that any admission conducted outside the platform was illegal and invalid.

According to him, JAMB remains the only body statutorily empowered to issue official admission letters to candidates seeking entry into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.

Concerned that candidates often assume that admission letters purportedly issued by universities are authentic simply because they carry the institutions’ identities, he urged universities engaging in such a practice to desist forthwith and ensure that candidates obtain the appropriate admission documents from JAMB.

Aina further stressed that institutions cannot substitute their own admission letters for the official documents issued by the board after candidates had accepted their offers on CAPS.

According to Kabir, the Nigerian economy is driven by those who possess technical skills; therefore, there is a need to create more opportunities for human capital development beyond what is currently available.

Earlier, the Chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Khalid Halilu, disclosed that the training on modern methods of electrical installations and maintenance was designed to equip 120 Lokoja youths with practical, marketable skills.