No CBT Centres in Sight: Kwara Students Forced to Travel to Oyo for JAMB Every Year

Applicants to undergraduate programs in Nigerian universities must take the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Every UTME activity has been supervised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over the years.

Students must register at a computer-based test (CBT) center certified by JAMB in order to be eligible to take the exam.

Students from the Baruten Local Government Area, however, do not have the privilege of registering and taking the test in their surroundings, in contrast to their counterparts in other regions of Kwara State. Students are now forced to endure stifling commutes to nearby areas as a result of the required activities.

This is because, despite Baruten’s standing as one of Kwara’s most lucrative local governments, the state government has neglected it.

Traveling on the unpaved road is difficult, and the dust is heavy. In an attempt to register for the 2025 UTME, Azeez Nodrata Olashubomi, who envisaged herself continuing her education beyond secondary school, embarked on a difficult journey from Baruten to Saki in Oyo State.

For the 19-year-old, the result of this demanding trip is a financially and emotionally taxing experience.

For me, the journey to Saki was not a simple one. I still had to make the trip back for thumbprinting and capture after registering. Before I could ultimately be apprehended, I spent about a day,” Olashubomi recalled.

“The most excruciating aspect is that there isn’t a center here in Baruten — both for registration and examination,” she added, “so the governments have to do something.”

Another Kwara-based JAMB aspirant, Jibril Fadillah, described a similar experience. Her experience was similar to the hardships faced by thousands of Baruten students who registered for UTME outside of their community since the government neglected to establish JAMB CBT-accredited centers.

“We cannot get just one CBT center from our local government. Traveling to a different location merely to register for JAMB was challenging and embarrassing. We don’t have an option,” Fadillah thought about what compelled her to embark on the oppressive journey.

Baruten JAMB aspirants still have to deal with the hardships of travel, from expensive transportation costs to poor lodgings in nearby towns.

It was incredibly difficult for us to complete our registration, but we had to persevere. But part of the experience also involves traveling to those places,” Fadillah said.

We assumed it would be simple the first time we visited. The transportation fee, however, aimed to remove our heads from our necks. When we arrived, we were treated like garbage by them. We slept there for three days without any planning to remain even one night because we were so far behind schedule.

When she learns that neighboring Kwara local government areas have operational JAMB CBT centers while her village lacks one despite the LGA’s generous yearly funding, her annoyance only grows.

We find it disappointing that a reputable municipal authority like ours is unable to establish a single CBT center. We are also certain that some individuals were unable to register because they were unable to pay for their own transportation.