Sunday PUNCH learned that the deadline for 2022 admissions by The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board is nearing. Universities with outstanding admissions will be working towards a merger.

During the 2022 policy meeting in Abuja, JAMB set the deadline of December 31,2022 for the conduct of the 2022/2023 admissions.
Participants at the meeting cited the ongoing strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities as a factor that determined their decision.

PUNCH reported recently that universities did not use 400,000 admission quotas during the 2021/2022 admission sessions; data from JAMB also showed that many outstanding admissions had been made from the 2020/2021 session.

JAMB commented on the developments, noting that most universities had stopped accepting students due to strikes.

Speaking on the backlog of admissions, the Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Prof Yakubu Ochefu, said, "Yes, the admissions will be merged."

ASUU began a strike Monday, February 14, 2022.

The union had blamed the failure of the government to meet its demands.

Among the demands are the release funds for revitalisation of universities; the release earned allowances for lecturers; renegotiations ASUU/FG 2009 agreements; and the release the white paper report on visitation panels to universities.

Although the government responded by establishing a committee chaired by Emeritus Professor Nimi Briggs, negotiations failed to produce solutions which led ultimately to an indefinite strike.

Eight months later, the strike was not called off.

Meanwhile, the Parents/Stakeholders' Forum of the Benue State University, Makurdi, has appealed to ASUU members in the institution to pull out of the national body to enable them to catch up with accumulated academic calendar years.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the appeal was contained in a statement made by Mr Tser vanger, the university's Public Relations Officer, Saturday in Makurdi.

According to the statement, Mrs Keziah Agunto, chairperson of the PSF, expressed concern over the insufficient academic calendar months and explained that lecturers would be able to reduce their workload by pulling out.

She stated that the 2020 and 2021 undergraduate programs had not yet been matriculated while the admission to the Unified Matriculation Tertiary Examination in 2022 was ongoing.

According to the statement, Prof Joseph Iorapuu, the Vice-Chancellor at the university demanded that academic activities be resumed in the institution.

He said that the majority of grievances expressed by lecturers were about funding.

According to the statement, top university management members attended the meeting, including the BSU branch Chairman of ASUU, Dr Victor Tarnongo, who promised to present the demands of the PSF to the appropriate authorities.

Hmmm Only God can help us