Nigerian Parents Have Turned University into an Asylum for their Children – Ex- JAMB Registrar Oloyede

The immediate past Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Emeritus Is-haq Oloyede, has criticised the growing reliance of Nigerian parents on universities to manage their children, saying many parents now treat higher institutions as “asylums.”

Oloyede made the remark while speaking at the 37th Annual General Assembly and Conference of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), held at the University of Ilorin.

The conference was themed “Building Resilient Universities for Nigeria,” while Oloyede delivered a keynote address titled “Reimagining Nigerian Universities for Resilience: Leadership, Innovation and Sustainability in a Disruptive Era.”

According to the former JAMB Registrar, many parents have gradually lost control over their children and now see universities as places where they can keep them away from home.

“Parents have turned the university into an asylum because they have lost control of their children. That is why they are always afraid when the universities are closed,” he said.

Oloyede, who previously served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, also criticised university lecturers and administrators for making life unnecessarily difficult for students during their academic programmes.

 Practice with ExamGuide UTME Learning App. Download the app from https://www.examguide.com/offline/products/utme

He argued that the way some students are treated while in university could affect their willingness to support their institutions after graduation.

According to him, some successful graduates deliberately distance themselves from their former universities because of negative experiences they had with lecturers and administrators.

“That is why they don’t answer when you are calling on alumni. They don’t want to come back because they hate you,” Oloyede said.

The professor also expressed concern about the failure of Nigeria’s educated elite, including academics, to make a stronger contribution towards addressing the country’s numerous challenges.

He said education should not be limited to academic environments when the knowledge acquired could be used to tackle problems affecting society.

“It appears those of us who are educated are failing the nation,” he said.

Oloyede further used the activities of Boko Haram to illustrate what he described as the failure of academics to engage society effectively.

If you want to pass the 2027 JAMB UTME exam with flying colors, practice with ExamGuide UTME Learning App. Download the app from https://www.examguide.com/offline/products/utme

The professor of Islamic Studies argued that academics should not remain confined to classrooms while individuals with little or no formal education gain influence by engaging and indoctrinating members of society.

“Those who are not educated are becoming more relevant than us and it is because we limit ourselves to the classrooms.”

He questioned why academics in Islamic Studies, for instance, would be reluctant to engage people with alternative interpretations while extremist ideologies continue to influence some members of society.

“If someone who is not a Professor of Islamic Studies can gather some people together preaching Boko Haram (meaning education is forbidden) and as professors of Islamic Studies, we cannot preach to counter them saying you don’t want to indoctrinate and some people are being indoctrinated against you, we need a relook at what we are doing,” he stated.

Oloyede's comments came amid discussions on how Nigerian universities can become more resilient, innovative and sustainable in responding to the country's changing social and economic realities.

He challenged university leaders and academics to look beyond traditional academic responsibilities and become more actively involved in solving the problems confronting Nigeria.

Download and install ExamGuide JAMB UTME Learning application

For Windows Operating System Devices (Laptops, Desktop, PC) – Click to download

For Android Operating System Devices (Phones, Tablets, palmtops) – Click to download