Jamiu Basola, a graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), has revealed that he nearly took his own life following a distressing admission dispute with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Basola made the emotional disclosure during an exclusive interview with PUNCH Metro on Monday.
His case gained public attention after he took to social media to call out JAMB for allegedly refusing to mobilise him for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), claiming his university admission was labelled “fake.”
According to him, he wrote the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in 2017 and gained admission into FUTA in 2018. He graduated in 2024 with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.41.
However, the controversy began during his final clearance when the university’s Student Affairs Division informed him that JAMB had rejected his NYSC mobilisation due to irregularities in his admission records.
“I was advised to check the JAMB matriculation list, and that was when I discovered my admission was marked as fake,” Basola explained.
He said he wrote numerous letters to FUTA officials—including the registrar, vice-chancellor, and chairman of the admissions committee—after being unable to access his JAMB portal to address the issue.
Following public outcry, JAMB released a statement through its Public Communication Adviser, Fabian Benjamin, stating that Basola was “an unknown entity” in its admission database.
The board also claimed the admission letter he had “did not emanate from its system,” and urged him to disclose how he obtained the document.
JAMB further stated that appeals to emotion, including references to Basola’s status as an orphan, should not cloud the facts of the case.
However, Basola has now confirmed that JAMB has restored access to his portal and his name has been added to the official matriculation list. Despite this progress, he noted that his name has yet to appear on the NYSC mobilisation list.
“My portal was previously locked, but I can now log in and reprint my documents.
My name has finally appeared on the matriculation list, although I am still waiting for NYSC mobilisation,” he said.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Basola admitted the emotional toll was severe.
“I honestly thought about suicide. It felt like seven years of hard work and sacrifice were about to be wasted.
But as a Christian, I found strength in my faith and decided to hold on,” he shared.
He expressed hope that the issue would soon be fully resolved and that he would be cleared to participate in the NYSC programme.