"Blame JAMB, Not OAU": Dean Clarified Cause of Admission Delay

          Samuel Faseyitan 

The Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has since Sunday sparked confusion among prospective students, sequel to the circulation of a release signed by the Division of Student Affairs, directing newly admitted candidates to resume with their admission letter and bedspace clearance form (for those interested in staying in the university-owned hostel). Meanwhile, the institution is aware that the majority of the aspirants are still on Admission in Progress (AIP) status, and none is yet to be granted admission.

The announcement has then left many aspirants frustrated and uncertain, as most have remained on the AIP status for four weeks, with none confirmed to have changed to the “Admitted” status. 

                    a copy of the release signed by DSA

The school’s directive, requiring documents that can only be possessed by only aspirants who have successfully confirmed their admission, was criticised by some of the aspirants, describing it as both “confusing and immature.”

Reacting to this development, Adedokun Kayode commented on Facebook:

“They should clarify those they referred to as newly admitted students because none of the applicants have been offered admission." Similarly, Taju Akanni added a comment - “OAU tactically told the freshers not to resume for now.”

The release signed by the DSA can be likened to “a Venn diagram with a null set,” as many aspirants are yet to be admitted, let alone obtain accommodation or clearance forms.

In an interview, Oreoluwa, an aspirant of Food Science and Technology, lamented over the delay, disclosing that she had been on the AIP status since the middle of September, hoping that her admission status would change in at least, a week before the October 11th resumption date, unfortunately, nothing of such yet. 

                   Oreoluwa's admission status 

Similarly, Kehinde Precious, an aspirant of Public Administration, added, “Now I am frustrated because, my admission status is not showing admitted yet, but I met the catchment area cutoff mark, and I was just 0.15 point off the merit cutoff mark.”

Recall that ACJ-OAU earlier reported that five aspirants had charged the institution to court on behalf of themselves and other affected candidates, citing irregularities in the Post-UTME exercise. The court granted an injunction, ordering both OAU and UNILAG to halt their admission processes. However, the Public Relations Officer of OAU said the university was not aware of the court ruling.

Subsequently, the university’s Legal Unit responded to the suit, faulting the law firm for filing the Post-UTME case with an outdated NBA seal, instructing the lawyer to update his seal to establish a valid right to practice in the current year. This was contained in a letter dated October 4, 2025, signed by the Director of Legal Services, Yinka Ayantola. This has then made students ponder whether the court injunction is partly responsible for the delay in the admission process or not.

         attached copies of the law suit and the OAU legal unit's response 

Students' Union's Comments 

In an interview with the Great Ife Students’ Union Vice President, Falade Iyanuoluwa, she confirmed that no aspirants has been offered admission yet, as the majority of them are still on AIP, while some are on “Not Admitted” status, hoping to be transferred to another course. She further explained that the university’s directive was to avoid a repeat of previous year's situation, where incomplete admissions led to students being allocated “makeshift” accommodations, causing major displacements upon the returning students resumption. The university management is trying to meet up with the calendar, but factors like accommodation have to be considered.”

 The Union's Vice President further urged the aspirants with the AIP status to resume academically, but not on campus, since they don’t have accommodation yet, confirming that the orientation and other programs remain on hold until admissions are finalized. “AIP is an assurance of admission, but only resumes if you have a space on campus,” she added, 

Dean, Division of Student Affairs Reacts

Reacting to this, the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof. John Odedire, explained that the delay in the admission process, is mainly because many candidates have not yet received their admission letters — an issue he attributed to JAMB. “We just felt there’s no way we can capture them on our database. Technically, they are not yet our students, so we cannot interact with them,” he said.

Speaking further, the Dean added that “all we do now is just on face value, as there’s no way to profile them, someone who has not been migrated to the student portal cannot be related to as a student yet.”

Prof. Odedire also stated that the reason why the Freshers Orientation Programme was postponed was to allow more candidates to receive their admission letters and other documents, before the programme begins. He emphasized that the delay has nothing to do with the ongoing ASUU strike. “The delay in the admission status of students changing to ‘admitted’ is from JAMB and not for any other reason.”