Ndigbo and school enrollment

Nd'igbo and school enrollment

In the 10th of July, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released the results of the 2002 Universities Matriculation Examination (U.M.E.). According to JAMB Registrar, Prof. Bello Salim, 1,007,326 had completed and returned their admission forms to the Board out of which 975,060 candidates sat for the examination.

Giving a breakdown of the entries, Prof. Salim said Imo State presented the highest number of 95,984 or 9.84 per cent of the total entry. Delta State is the runner-up with 80,448 or 8.25 per cent while Anambra State came third with 64,296 or 6.59 per cent. Edo, Ogun and Ondo had 61,897 (6.37 per cent), 54,272(5.6 per cent) and 46,592 (4.7 per cent) applicants respectively, to occupy the third to sixth positions. States with the lowest number of applicants for UME included Borno with 4,358 , Taraba with 2,934 , Katsina 2,530 , Kebbi 2,438 (0.24 per cent), Zamfara 2,169 (0.22 per cent) and Yobe having 1,178 (0.12 per cent). The entries of Imo and Anambra States alone
amounted to a total of 160,280 or 16.43 per cent of the total entry, with the remaining 34 states and the F.C.T. making do with the remaining 83.27 per cent.

It should be noted, for the sake of emphasis, that Imo and Anambra States are in South-East Nigeria while Igbos make up about a quarter of the population of Delta State. Igbos in Delta State can be found in Agbor, Anioma, Asaba, Ibuzo, Ndokwa, Ogwashi Uku,
Okpanam, Oshimili, etc.

For long, there has been this erroneous notion created in the Nigerian media that the quest for intellectual improvement by sons and daughters of Igboland has been poor in recent times. However, statistics from JAMB and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) as regards the registration of candidates from different states of the federation points to the contrary. The trend as regards the registration of JAMB students in the last five years has shown that the Igbo rank tops. In 2001 U.M.E. entries, according to states of origin, Imo State equally took the first position. It is equally noteworthy that the first position for the 2002 U.M.E. JAMB examination went to John Uchenna Efidi of Ebonyi State who scored 326. Chike Collins-Gregory Ndive from Anambra State came second
with a score of 325 while Henry Tolulope Jibodu and Ashimuyi Babatunde Durojaiye (both of Lagos State) jointly took the third position by scoring 319.

The truth of the matter is that there have been drop in male enrolment in schools in Anambra and Abia States due to the commercial nature of the states. Young boys in these states who see their mates doing business and who seem to be "making it" (in the short run though) tend to abandon school for business. That notwithstanding, these states still have many of their indigenes spread across different parts of the country, likewise other Igbo states.

Writing in an article on the Back page of Thisday Newspaper of 25th March 2002, Olusegun Adeniyi stated inter alia : "...a region (South East) where most young people are driven by the urge to make money with little or no value attached to mental self
improvement". This can no longer be accepted by Ndi Igbo. It is an intimidation of the Igbo race. Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu complained of this intimidation of in an interview with Newswatch Magazine of April 8, 2002. On page 29 he said: "I
found that there is an orchestrated attempt at intimidating the Igbo with their own shortcomings. And these are shortcomings that are rampant across the entire country".

A halt must be put to this mixture of tribal sentiments to obfuscate crystal clear facts. Just to digress a little, we all saw the kind of encomiums that was poured on the Nigerian coaching crew to the Japan/Korea World Cup even though it is visible that that coaching crew were inept. Just because the head of that crew comes from a particular section of the country. I thank Mr. Emeka Odikpo of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) for putting facts in their proper perspective in the July 13 edition of "Sports Spectacular" on Radio Nigeria. Did Onigbinde perform at the World Cup? Odikpo's Verdict: CAPITAL NO.

In conclusion therefore, I think the onus now lies on the objective press and Igbo sons and daughters in the media to correct this erroneous claim, now given life and which seems to have worn the garb of validity. As the Igbo would say, "aru gbaa afo, o ghoo omenala" (when an abomination lasts for a year, it becomes a
norm).

Sept 2002