Quota or Injustice? The Deepening Divide in Nigeria’s Admission System

By DAYO ADESULU

For decades, Nigeria’s educational quota system has sought to promote unity and inclusiveness across its diverse regions. But beneath the noble rhetoric lies a brewing crisis of inequality, frustration, and declining standards—one that starkly manifests in the contrasting admission requirements between the North and South.

At the heart of the matter is a disturbing trend: while students from Southern states are required to meet extremely high cut-off marks to gain admission into Unity Schools and federal universities, their counterparts from Northern states often qualify with scores as low as 2 or 4 out of 300.

The Roots of the Quota System

The federal quota system, officially introduced in 1979 under Nigeria’s Constitution, aimed to ensure equitable representation and access to education and employment for all regions. Under this system, federal institutions—including Unity Schools and universities—allocate admissions based on a combination of merit, catchment areas, and special consideration for Educationally Less Developed States (ELDS), predominantly in the North.

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Typically, 45% of admissions are based on merit (national ranking), 35% on catchment areas, and 20% on ELDS. Unity Schools also use a merit-state-exigency formula of approximately 60%-30%-10%.

A Tale of Two Cut-offs

The disparities in cut-off marks are staggering. For example, in the 2022/23 admissions cycle:

• Anambra State students needed a score of 139 to qualify for Unity Schools.
• Zamfara State students could qualify with just 4 points for boys and 2 for girls.
• Lagos: 133
• Taraba: 3

These figures, taken directly from the Ministry of Education’s admissions list, have caused outrage among parents, educators, and civil society groups. Many argue that such policies not only demoralize high-achieving students in the South but also promote mediocrity and weaken national unity.

‘A Government-Sponsored Academic Apartheid’

Education stakeholders have condemned the wide gap in entry standards. An APC policy analyst recently described the system as “a government-sponsored academic apartheid,” noting that a child scoring 139 in Anambra could be denied admission, while another with 9 from Kebbi gains entry.

Professor Olaide Adewole of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, added that such a system creates resentment: “Brilliant students who lose opportunities wonder whether they belong to the same country as those who are given preferential treatment.”

The Legal Challenge

In 2014, the Federal High Court in Lagos ruled that setting different cut-offs by state violates Section 42(1) of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on state of origin. Despite the ruling and subsequent reaffirmation in 2022, the policy persists.

This has led to further complications. Some parents in the South allegedly adopt Northern identities for their children to benefit from lower cut-offs, while Northern advocacy groups allege that such practices rob indigent students of their rightful opportunities.

JAMB and the Ministry Respond

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) insists it does not allocate scores based on region. Any variations, it argues, stem from the policies of individual institutions and directives from the Ministry of Education.

A Ministry spokesperson has defended the quotas, stating they are necessary to ensure peace, unity, and equitable access across all regions.

Consequences and Declining Confidence

Statistics show that only 29% of the 6.9 million students who sat for UTME between 2019 and 2022 gained admission. Nearly 5 million were left out—including thousands with top-tier scores.

Meanwhile, trust in Unity Schools has eroded. Enrollment for the Common Entrance Exam dropped from 89,000 in 2016 to 71,000 in 2018. WAEC results indicate that several Unity Schools, especially in the North, consistently fall below the benchmark for university entry.

The Way Forward

Educational equity should not come at the cost of excellence. While the quota system was born out of good intentions, its present implementation appears to punish brilliance and reward mediocrity. If Nigeria is to move forward, policymakers must rethink these outdated standards.

Merit must be returned to its rightful place in national development. Only then can we build an education system that not only unites us but also uplifts us all.

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