The
registration for the UTME had earlier been scheduled to end on Saturday May 15,
but with the look of things, it may now be extended to May 29, 2021. The
examination, which is computer-based, earlier scheduled for June 5-19, may now
start on June 19 and terminate on July 3, 2021. However, the mock exam would
still hold on May 20, and it is a voluntary exercise for interested candidates.
Sources told our correspondent that the steps became inevitable because as at
Thursday night only about 1.3 million candidates had registered for the exam.
This is a far cry from the expected figure of over 2 million candidates. Last
year, 2.1 million candidates sat for the same exam. The problem with this
year’s registration is the inability of many applicants to link their National
Identification Number, NIN, to their applications. Vanguard Learning had
reported on Thursday the frustration by parents and candidates over the NIN
linkage. Some of the candidates told our correspondent that they have spent
thousands of naira on airtime without successfully linking their NIN to their
applications. The government made the NIN compulsory this year after the idea
was jettisoned last year following hiccups that dodged getting the NIN
registration exercise. However, the situation was exacerbated this year when
the government made NIN compulsory for all Nigerians of registrable age. Before
now the National Identification Management Commission, NIMC, the agency saddled
with generating NIN for the citizens, boasted that it was up to the task. The
Head of Corporate Affairs of NIMC, Mr Kayode Adegoke, had given the assurance
that the agency would be up to the task, but the reverse seem to be the case
now.
