Unilorin Wins JAMB’s N500m Merit Award

The University of Ilorin has emerged top on the list of winners of the fourth edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit Awards (NATAP-M Awards) for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic sessions.

In a report by the director, Corporate Affairs of the university, Kunle Akogun, the award was instituted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

“For the feat, the first of its kind to be won by any university, the university bagged a princely sum of N500 million.

The winners were announced by the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, during the 2024 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions organised by the Board.

The Award presentation to the Vice Chancellor, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, was done by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, assisted by dignitaries including the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu; the Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT, Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, and a host of others.

In his acceptance speech, Professor Egbewole thanked JAMB for the award to his institution.

He said the institution will not rest on its oars and promised that the money won will be judiciously used.

UNILORIN emerged the best institution with an aggregate of 12 points in the overall category comprising all the five elements of the NATAP-M Awards.

The categories are: The Institution of First Choice for Candidates to Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria; The Most National Institution in Admissions; The Most Improved Institution in Gender balance; The Institution with the Highest Number of International Students in Admission and The Most Compliant Institution in Keeping to the Guidelines in Admissions.

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, picked the second position with an aggregate of 11 points in the overall category comprising all the five categories and got N75 million prize award.

Borno State University, Maiduguri, came third with nine points and won a cash prize of N50 million.

Also, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, emerged as the best Polytechnic with 12 points and got N50 million prize at the sectoral awards while Federal College of Education, Zaria, emerged as the best College of Education with 11 points and won N50 million prize.

For Innovation Enterprise Institutions, PEFTI Film Institute, Lagos emerged winner with six points and a cash prize of N10 million.

In his remarks, the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said the overall award prize was increased to N750 million to help winners achieve tangible results with the money.

He said any institution that emerged overall winner could not win it again until after five years to enable the prize to go round to make the desirable impacts across Nigerian institutions.

Professor Oloyede also said that this year, the Board remitted over N3.5 billion to the Federal Government and also set aside the N750 million that should be given to the winning institutions.

The Deputy Senate President, Jibril Barau, in his remarks, said the ceremony not only celebrated the collective achievements of the winning institutions but also served as a testament to the unwavering dedication of JAMB to promoting excellence.