By Dipo Olowookere
A one-day seminar was recently held for students intending to write this year’s Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Lagos.
The event, sponsored by Heritage Bank Plc and a lawmaker from Lagos State at the National Assembly, had no fewer than 20 schools represented with an average of at least 1,500 students from two local government areas of the state comprising of both government schools and private schools.
The beneficiaries, mainly from Ifako-Ijaiye, were told that the ultimate goal of the seminar was to ensure that the majority of the participants pass this year’s JAMB qualifying examination.
The seminar, which is part of Heritage Bank’s initiative to develop the advancement of education in Nigeria, was held at the weekend at Obawole to commemorate the first 100 days in office of Mr Nurudeen Olaitan Akinwunmi as member of the House of Representatives.
Mr Akinwunmi is representing the Ifako-Ijaiye Federal Constituency at the National Assembly.
Addressing the participants at the occasion, the lawmaker said just like illiteracy, ignorance is a dangerous circumstance because anybody who is ignorant on any issue is not different from an uneducated person.
He stated that excelling in a higher institution admission qualifying examination like JAMB requires more than being brilliant.
“Being sound in the combination of subjects on which questions are to be set may not necessarily translate to being admitted. There are so many issues involved. That is why millions of brilliant candidates who have sat for JAMB up to two, three times have failed to gain admission,” he specified.
“My belief is that while most parents can afford the cost of the JAMB Form, most parents cannot afford to teach what you’ll be taught today,” he said.
Corroborating him, Mr Jide Johnson, one of the facilitators at the forum, advised the audience to ensure they concentrate in their examination.
He said concentration is key to success for any student who would pass in JAMB examinations.
Again, he said they should always bear it in mind that they are going to the examination for a specific purpose and not for fashion show. Bearing this in mind, Johnson charged them to build on their courage as they prepare for this year’s JAMB examination coming up in May.
He stated that it is difficult for any student to understand all the questions in JAMB examinations; however warned them to attempt only those questions they are sure of.
“Answer only those questions you are sure of and leave those you do not understand. You cannot know every question; do the ones you know and leave those you do not understand”, he counselled.
Justifying the Heritage Bank’s support for the seminar, Ms Jake-Biosa Ogechi, team member (Cowry & SME), Heritage Bank, explained that the financial service provider is a bank that loves to work with its partners.
She said the bank decided to stay by the students even before their planned admissions into tertiary institutions with a view to boosting their understanding of the need for saving culture.
Ms Ogechi therefore charged parents, whose children plan to gain admission into higher institutions of learning in Nigeria, to embrace the various banking solutions in the stable of Heritage Bank. According to her, parents should ensure they open Heritage Bank Board Account for their wards; as doing that would make financial communication easy between them and their children.
She said there are several other banking solutions like HB Tier 1 Account and YIEDP Intervention Scheme that Heritage Bank has developed for the benefit of its numerous customers and other stakeholders.
Ms Ogechi assured the students and their parents that Heritage Bank is a bank they can always count on as a timeless wealth partner.
Modupe Gbadeyanka