For those who said it was based on merit

The reactions that followed the article fell into three categories.  Those who said we shouldn’t complain because we believe that boko is haram.  Majority of those in this group are southerners, but there were a few northern Christians who erroneously believe that wherever Arewa or the North is mentioned, feel they’re outsiders.  Moses Billiri Yusuf, […]

The reactions that followed the article fell into three categories.  Those who said we shouldn’t complain because we believe that boko is haram.  Majority of those in this group are southerners, but there were a few northern Christians who erroneously believe that wherever Arewa or the North is mentioned, feel they’re outsiders.  Moses Billiri Yusuf, obviously a northern Christian, wrote: “Why Not? Since we said Boko is Haram. Can we get first class?”
The second group says we shouldn’t complain, because northerners have also done it (scheming out southerners in similar programmes) in the past.  These two groups are still living in jahiliyah (the period of ignorance and barbarism).  Thus, I treat these the way the Qur’an orders us to treat people of ignorance, by saying “peace.”
Therefore, it is to the third group that we must focus our attention.  Those who said the PRESSID was based on merit.  The most trenchant argument against this nonsense is the one by Professor Abba Gumel of the University of Manitoba, himself a poster child of merit and eloquent statement that the North is not only peopled by characters who can’t pass a mere scholarship examination.
“I have been involved,” the professor said, “in administering written exams for candidates (from Nigerian universities) for admission into the African University of Science and Technology in Abuja, and I know how poorly (at least in math) students from certain region tend to do.  In an exam that is truly fair and non-compromised (and ours surely is), the distribution is (and must be) at least 50-50.  In a different and related topic, I recently gave exams to students (the best of the best selected from across the country) taking my Foundations Courses at the Mathematical Centre, I can say very few (less than 5%) actually scored what I would consider a “pass mark”.  My point is, students from Nigerians universities are essentially of the same level (on average)….and any credible exam will reflect this fact.  The exams I gave were very credible (no one had any contact whatsoever with the questions except me, and the results did not surprise me).”
He concluded that “for the scholarship selection process to be any credible, candidates should be required to take certain internationally-recognized exam (such as GRE).”
But that’s not all, before we even discuss the criteria used in the screening examination, we must first ask the question: why were qualified students (i.e. those with first class) from the North not invited for the examination? Some northern candidates with first class, who applied, approached me and said they were not invited.
Did NUC just assume that some candidates from the North would test poorly and therefore shut them out?
Yahaya Abubakar Yabo, is qualified.  He applied but wasn’t invited.  He wrote: “Thank you Prof. I am one of those that applied. But majority of us (NORTHERN APPLICANTS) were not even invited to take the aptitude test despite meeting all the requirements as advertised in several newspapers and NUC’s website. No reason was given for not inviting us. A friend in the UK told me that his colleague, also in the UK, and who is already enjoying NITDA scholarship, has his name on the list. Remember that the scholarship comes with an automatic job offer.”
When I asked Yahaya if he got a first class, his reply was consistent with the criteria published on NUC website: “My degree is unclassified. For such type of degrees (Medicine and Veterinary Medicine) the criteria stipulates that, only two distinctions at Part 3 & 4 are required. I had more than 5 in each level.  A friend of mine, Saifullah Maishanu, also graduated with first class, he applied but was not invited for the aptitude test.”
Another qualified candidate, Bala Usman, wrote:
“Prof thanks, for your concern. This is to inform you that, history repeated itself. The character of the first batch of the awards (2012/1213) was the same with this year. Out of the 101 candidates awarded, only two came from Northwest (Zamfara and Katsina), one candidate from each state.
“It happens that, I was one of the invited candidate (PhD Genetics) from Gombe state. We were six from Gombe state and we all met the requirements (First class, age and field of studies). I got First class degree in both my BSc and MSc (Human Anatomy) from University of Maiduguri (Nigeria) and University of Dundee (UK) respectively. Unfortunately, no candidate was given the award among the six of us that sat for the aptitude test. No candidate was awarded from the entire Northeast, only two from Northwest and 11 from Northcentral (kogi, 6; Kwara, 4; and Plateau, 1).
“What a shame to our leaders! The then minister of Education, Prof Rukayyat supervised the entire process. I was personally disappointed in her, because she knew the list does not reflect the Federal Character, but she kept silent about it and went ahead to approve the list. Then, I felt the need to alert our leaders on what was going on and for a possible intervention, but I had no one to approach about the issue.
“I can remember sending a letter to one of the Daily Trust’s columnists, and an editor. I have the copy of the letter I composed with detailed analysis of every step in the award process. Finally, even though, that (2012/2013) has already passed, I am happy that, our people have now woken up from their deep sleep. We should all be vigilant of what is going on at the top.”
My own friend from Gombe told me that his wife graduated with 4.80 in mathematics and was among the 623 who sat for the screening examination, but wasn’t given. So it’s obvious now that it wasn’t for lack of qualified candidates from the North that we were excluded; those who argue the point that the selection was based on merit do not know what they are saying.  NUC should also face Professor Abba’s challenge that all the students must be subjected to a credible international exam.