2018 UTME: JAMB Decries Ongoing Non-Academic Staff Strike

ABUJA—JOINT Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, yesterday said the much anticipated conduct of the 2018 Mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, would now hold on February 26, saying it could no longer postpone the conduct of the examination.

This came as it lamented ongoing nationwide strike by non-academic staff in the nation’s universities, blaming the industrial action for the delay in the examination, as the body was forced to continuously shift it in anticipation that the industrial action would be called off.
JAMB, in a statement by its Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, lamented that being a critical partner, the Non-Academic Staff Union of  Educational and Related Associations, NASU’s absence in the scheduled examination would be greatly felt if the issue that led to the industrial dispute was not resolved for members to participate in the exercise.
According to him: “The unions are our critical stakeholders and their absence would be felt if the issue is not resolved before Monday, February 26. The Board could not have said it would go on with the examination with or without their suspending the strike, rather the Board found itself in a situation that it has to go on with conduct of the examination. We are still hopeful that an amicable resolution of the crisis would be reached before the date of the examination.
‘We had prayed and worked tirelessly to ensure that the strike was called off hence our continued shifting of the dates for the examination.“