Mr. Johnson B. Malgwa, Acting Provost FCE Yola
The Federal College of Education (FCE), Yola has reportedly engaged in selling of thousands of ‘admission’ forms to unsuspecting prospective candidates for unapproved and non-existing degree programmes in the institution. NEWS PLATFORM can report.
Investigations revealed that the College through its Directorate of Undergraduate Programmes sold the controversial admission forms to prospective candidates for the 2021/2022 academic session in 16 new courses said to be affiliated to the Universities of Maiduguri and Jos.
It could be recalled that the institution was granted approval to run only nine (9) accredited courses in affiliation with the University of Maiduguri starting from the 2014/2015 academic season.
Findings by NEWS PLATFORM indicate that there was no way the College could have obtained approval from the National Universities Commission to introduce additional 16 courses beyond its original carrying capacity of Nine (9).
However, the College through an advertisement placed in various media houses informed the public that it had obtained approval to run Sixteen (16) additional degree programmes supposedly in affiliation with the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri.
It then called on prospective candidates wishing to join the Degree Programmes to pay the sum N3, 500, for admission forms in the following new available courses: Early Childhood Care and primary education, Computer Science Education, Social Studies, Guidance and Counseling, Education Management and Christian Religious Studies.
Other new courses it advertised and said to be in affiliation with the University of Maiduguri were: Continuing Education, French Education, Business Education, Economics Education, Fine and Applied Arts, Geography, Hausa, Physics and Political Science Education.
Investigation further revealed that thousands of unsuspecting prospective candidates rushed to the College Directorate of Undergraduate Studies and obtained the said admission forms, amounting to millions of naira, which is now believed to be a hoax.
Contrary to its advertisement in the media, it is alleged that the College had no affiliation approval with the Universities of Jos, nor accreditation from the National Universities Commission to run the additional sixteen degree programmmes prior to the advertisement.
As the admission fate of thousands affected candidates continues to hang in the balance, NEWS PLATFORM contacted the College Acting Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Hassan Mubi to respond to the allegation, but he turned off his telephone immediately after listening to the questions from our reporter.
The College Acting Provost, Mr. Johnson Blo Malgwa who promised to get back to our reporter on the issue after a meeting he was attending, however, did not pick telephone calls nor responded to SMS message sent to his line up to the time of going to press.
NEWS PLATFORM gathered at the weekend that some prospective candidates (not all) who purchased the controversial admission forms got SMS Messages, believed to be from the Bursary Department of the College, asking them to come for refunds.
The Message reads, “Please come with your account details and receipt of payment to the Bursary Dept., FCE, Yola for the refund of your application fees into Undergraduate Studies. -Bursar”
The reimbursements of funds messages are believed to be an afterthought in respect of the controversial admission offer following inquires by the media and perhaps meaning that the courses were now not available.
The Federal College of Education, Yola has recently been rocked by controversy, ranging from student rioting for lack of available water supply, fake employment scandal to fake admission offers.
Commenting on the issue, a public affairs analyst and union executive in the College who does not want his name in print said “This is how low our education system has become. The sector that ought to be the bedrock of our development is left to decay in the hands of incompetent individual.”
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