•Technical efficiency perfected our job –Oloyede
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), yesterday began the conduct of the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across 624 Computer Based Test (CBT) centres in Nigeria.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said the exercise recorded huge success in some places on the first day, while it failed in few other places due to certain peculiar reasons. The exercise will last one week.
Oloyede, who alongside other JAMB officials and journalists monitored the exercise in some CBT centres in Abuja, expressed satisfaction with the cheering reports he received from several CBT centres across Nigeria.
Oloyede linked the success recorded nationwide on the first day to the efficiency of technology deployed as well as the capacity and dedication of the staff sent to the field to supervise the exercise.
“Aside CBT centres located in Seventh Day Adventist Church that does not operate on Saturdays as it against their faith, other CBT centres were up and running as early as possible. Even candidates in Maiduguri where they witnessed bomb explosion this morning (yesterday) wrote the exam.
“From our control room in JAMB headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, we were able to monitor the downloads and uploads by the CBT centres and it was a seamless exercise,” he said.
Oloyede said that the mock exam conducted recently was helpful to JAMB as it enabled them to identify potential challenges and quickly resolve them preparatory to the exam day proper.
He was however optimistic that the system would get better and more efficient as the exercise enters Day 2 tomorrow. Technical and academic experts were strategically positioned to resolve any issues that could arise in the course of the exercise.