STATES WITH THE HIGHEST ENGINEERING APPLICANTS (INSTITUTIONS)

For five consecutive years, three
Nigerian states took an
unmistakable lead in university
JAMB admissions into courses
leading to the award of degrees in
Engineering, a PREMIUM TIMES
analysis shows.
The states are Oyo, Ogun and
Osun.
More than the other 33 states and
the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja, the three states, in varied
sequence, maintained a consistent
lead in JAMB-administered
admissions for Engineering courses
in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and
2015, the analysis based on data
from the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board(JAMB) shows.
The data were verified by the
National Bureau of Statistics.
The three states were closely
followed by Delta, Ondo, Imo,
Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Kogi, and
Kwara states.
Some states in the second category
broke into the first three in some
years, while in other years, they
missed out entirely from the top
eight.
Edo made the top eight states
twice, while Kaduna and Benue
made the best eight once, each.
The data are for students admitted
through test-based examinations
conducted by JAMB.
JAMB’s admission process is
guided by merit, university
catchment area and gives
advantage to educationally-less
developed states.
The analysis follows a
similar evaluation by this
newspaper of admissions into
Medicine . A future assessment will
focus on Law – the three being
some of the most competitive
university programmes in the
country.
As the Medicine report, which
showed a largely regional trend with South-
East states of Imo, Enugu, Anambra and a
South-south state, Delta, taking the lead, the
latest analysis on Engineering shows mostly
South-west states in top positions.
Engineering trend
The JAMB data show that in 2011, while Osun
had 1,196 students admitted into various
universities to study Engineering degree
courses, Ogun followed with 1,117 students
with Oyo coming third with 1,076. Delta came
fourth with 883 and Benue was fifth with 847
students.
In 2012, Oyo emerged first with 1, 339
students, Osun followed with 1,339 and Ogun
came third with 1,081. Akwa Ibom was fourth
with 966. Ondo placed fifth with 901 students
admitted into Engineering.
Oyo led again in 2013 with 1,870 students,
while Osun followed with 1,478 and Ogun
came third with 1,244. Delta came fourth with
1,165. Fifth position was taken by Kaduna with
1,068 students.
In 2014, Osun returned to the first position
with 2,168 students, with Oyo dropping to
second with 1,647. Ogun came third with 1,
639; Delta was fourth with 1,447 and Ondo
with 1,281, took fifth.
In 2015, Oyo reclaimed the first position with
2,536 students, Osun followed with 2,326, Delta
came to third with 1, 511, while Ogun was
relegated to the fourth position with 1, 468.
Ondo maintained the fifth position with 1, 368.
Other findings
States at the bottom of the admission table
were FCT, Yobe, Zamfara, and Sokoto.
Other states that had poor showing in
Engineering admission were Bayelsa, Borno,
Nassarawa, Gombe and Cross River.
Sokoto had 19 students admitted
into Engineering in 2011, while the FCT had 28
students. The trend was similar for the five
years.
In 2012, Yobe had 44 students, followed by
Zamfara with 77 students, Sokoto with 93
students and Borno had 99 students.
In 2013, Sokoto had 60 students, followed by
Zamfara with 126 students. Yobe had 162
students while Gombe had 247 students.
In 2014, Sokoto had 88 students, Bayelsa had
188 students, Nassarawa had 199 while Gombe
had 221 students.
Also in 2015, Zamfara recorded 135 students
who got admission, Bayelsa had 137 students,
Sokoto had 174 while Cross Rivers had 228
students.
Comparing notes
John Umaru, a retired permanent secretary at
the Kogi State Ministry of Education, said
the admission pattern reflects the availability
of resources to improve science and technology
in some states.
He said state governments must endeavour
to understudy the top states and imbibe “what
they are doing right”.
“State should be allowed to do comparative
studies or analysis so that they can replicate
what the top states with the high number of
students studying engineering are doing for the
past years,” he said.
He said the country will not be able to detect
the peculiar problem of a state if the
government fails to “compare notes” with the
states that are doing well in different sectors.
“Until we start comparing notes across the
country, we won’t be able to know the peculiar
problem of a state and adopt what others are
doing right so that the performance of our
students can improve,” he said.
“If you take a look at the mathematics quiz
organised by Cowbell Milk, the students that
scored well are from Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Lagos
and Anambra States. Some of these students
are from well-established private schools, but
how many private schools can we boast of in
Yobe and Zamfara States,” he asked.
Mr. Umar said the problem in science
education is with the foundation.
“How grounded are these students in primary
science, basic level of education? If the
foundation is not strong, there will be a serious
issue. Yobe State have been noted for
backwardness in education,” he said.
According to him, the pattern also reflects the
decline in infrastructure, facilities and quality
of teachers in schools. He said teachers’
training programme must be re-addressed.
“If there are no qualified teachers to teach the
students the basics, how do we want them to
comprehend what is being taught? How do we
expect them to pass common entrance well, let
alone the science subjects in JAMB. These
students needs basic knowledge in Physics,
Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology,” he said.
He added that the attitude of parents towards
their wards’ education also contributes largely
to their success or failure. Finally, he also
noted that poor attitude of students to their
education is a common phenomenon that
should be discouraged.