The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) is planning a mass protest against the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, set for September 12th, 2024, in Abuja. The students are demanding Oloyede’s removal due to policies they feel negatively affect Polytechnic students, especially their eligibility for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.
In a statement from the NAPS Senate, the union called on all federal, state, and private polytechnics, as well as institutions like the Federal College of Agriculture and Federal Cooperative College, to join the protest. The statement highlighted widespread frustration among Polytechnic students with current JAMB policies, which they believe harm Polytechnic education in Nigeria.
The protest aims to either remove the JAMB registrar or overturn these policies. NAPS Senate President Adeniki Temitope explained that the issue mainly affects students who did their National Diploma (ND) part-time and then pursued their Higher National Diploma (HND) full-time. According to Temitope, JAMB has instructed NYSC to exclude these students from national service, even though they paid N5000 to N6000 each for JAMB regularization.
Temitope criticized this policy for ignoring the established practice that allowed students to move from part-time ND programs to full-time HND programs without issues. He also denounced the situation as discriminatory, arguing that Polytechnic students should not be treated as second-class citizens in Nigeria. Temitope added that attempts to resolve the issue with JAMB have failed, leaving many affected students in a tough spot.
