By: Jack Acheme, Abuja
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has conducted a promotional examination for 6,000 Directorate cadre staff under the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The promotional exams are aimed at improving productivity and services for citizens working for Nigeria in and outside the country.
The computer-based test (CBT) conducted for candidates within the country in Abuja, the nation’s capital, was held on Thursday at the JAMB CBT center in Kogo, Bwari Area Council, while the ones for candidates outside the country were held in the UK and 3 other countries.
Speaking with journalists during the exercise, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said the exam is also conducted for candidates in the UK, USA, India, and Egypt.
He described the innovative way of writing the Civil Service exams as a bold step because of the visionary leadership in the Federal Civil Service Commission.
“It is important to say that this is a very bold initiative on the part of the Federal Civil Service Commission, and I’m not surprised about that because of the visionary leadership.
He said there was no need for the candidates to be apprehensive because of the use of modern technology in writing the exam, stressing that the whole process is simplified with alternatives.
“We have a system, a system that allows you alternative routes. Once you know how to use your cell phone, you’ll be able to write our examination successfully because it’s just A B C and you don’t need to touch the mouse.
“This examination is taking place not only within Nigeria, it’s also taking place in four countries across the world. It’s taking place in the UK, the US, India, and in Egypt. These are the four countries we have deployed our personnel.
“I believe that with what the Federal Civil Service Commission is doing, people will be less apprehensive about using computer because when I came into the hall, I could see apprehension, but by the time they saw what the instruction was and so on, I asked so many of them any question they were just smiling.
“So, I think we should not be afraid of things that we do not know rather we should confront them. I want to appreciate once again the leadership of the Federal Civil Service Commission for taking this bold step,” Prof. Oloyede.
The Commissioner representing FCT and Niger state on the Federal Civil Service Commission, Dr Hussaini Adamu, said he was impressed with the performance of the candidates, revealing that the assessment began on Wednesday with about 1,500 candidates participating in three sessions.
“My assessment is that we find the exercise to be an excellent one. It shows the experience of JAMB over the decades that they have been conducting this examination successfully. The candidates were earlier apprehensive, but after the commencement of the exercise, they are very happy, and they actually preferred this process compared to the last system of using pen and paper. It is a transparent system,” he said
He commended the security arrangements and the conducive environment for the CBT exam in Bwari, which is a replica of the other nine centers that the exam took place simultaneously across the FCT.
“The halls have CCTV cameras that are watching remotely. The systems are working. The environment is conducive. The temperature using the air conditioners is okay, and then the process is such that when they come before going into the hall, there is a place where they are kept, and it is secured.
“It’s a beautiful exercise, and the outcome of the ones of yesterday and the first batch of today is good. I commend the JAMB for being able to conduct this exercise in this manner with dignity of service.
“The candidates are in thousands because even in this hall, we have more than 500 seats, and we have conducted three batches yesterday, which possibly might be about 1,500, and today we are also going to conduct another three today. There are about 10 centers all over the Federal Capital Territory.
He said, despite the commendation, there is room for improvement because of innovations in the technology of writing exams.
“Well, for us, we have stated that it is good, but we always give room for improvement. We expect that they will find ways and means to make it better because, as human beings, we are always striving for better. After all, if anybody comes with something better, you will find that your system will be obsolete. Technology is improving by the day or by the minute,” he said.
Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Adetunji Olaopa, said that although it is the first time the commission is using CBT for the promotion exam of staff, he was impressed with the success recorded in the examination of the 6,000 candidates for the director cadre.
“It is a little progress, but significant for us. We know that computer-based tests are already popular, but at least for the Federal Civil Service Commission, this is the first time we are doing this. We are fortunate because we build our confidence on the fact that we are partnering with a sister institution like JAMB that has built up experience for decades.
“When everybody thought we should tread carefully, we had that confidence with Professor Ishaq Oloyede at JAMB, a national brand and someone who is a performer, a man of strong integrity. We knew that we could go ahead and we would succeed,” he said.
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He said the commission hopes to expand the exam to States across the federation in the near future because of the experience gathered from the current exercise.
“It also involves a lot of resources if we have to do it in the States and all of that, the technology, the tracking. So we wanted to be sure that all is well. So that’s why we started from the FCT.
Clearly, from the successes that we have recorded, it doesn’t take us much to make it a lot more convenient and accessible to all candidates wherever they are located,” he added.
Olusola Akintonde