Mr. Aluko wrote as follows:

So for Obi Aduba to even SUGGEST that Ojerinde or the Federal Ministry of Education CONNIVED to lower the grades so as to get certain regional advantage for some people is simply and wildly preposterous.I was right there when it all happened:it was all democratically arrived at in broad daylight

Here are may exact words in this regard

Yet given the data that are represented by the above statistics, our very, very smart VCs decided that the minimum admission criterion for admission should be set at 180, 5 rungs below the maximum score (400) even when 200 and above students (771,512) are more than enough to fill available vacancies. Why the VC's set the minimum standard so low defies logic. Could this have something to do with getting "some people" in? Even the "dumb" north has 110,218 of the ubiquitous smart students

Nigerian Universities AdmissionIt is obvious that if there is any connivance it belongs to all the vice chancellors who might have the need to "get some people in." It would have no bearing on Prof. Ojerinde, or the ministry of education. Prof. Aluko might be trying to put words in my mouth. I always resist such forced feeding and do so now.

My commentary stands as written. Why not exhaust the supply of students scoring >200?

I will now turn to point by point debunking of Prof. Aluko's other charges. I would have no comment on items 3, 4, and 5 as I did not say a word about those points which in any case I think the Prof. made those points as background information.

So here is my point by point rebuttal of 1,2,6,7,8,9,10,11 (my counter punches).

it makes little or no sense to compare 2010 and 2011 applicants' statistics (including results) with prior years.It is like comparing apples and oranges simply because they are both called "fruits

Really? I have seen comparisons of different types of fruits. Fruits are supposed to have certain characteristics common to them. All exams are supposed to identify students with the potential to pursue university education (otherwise why have exams) so in this regard one would want to compare this UTME with other exams in the past that were adjudged to have tried to accomplish the same purpose. That is why such comparison would be made. Since this 2011 exam result differs so much from JAMB's previous results explanations should be called for but was not given. The present is derived from the past. You cannot just ignore the past.

which Aduba has chosen several times to cast aspersions on (university chancellors) as if we did not know what we were being "dished" by Ojerinde

I did indeed cast well deserved aspersions on the Vice Chancellors. They indeed did not know when they were being taken for a ride and where they were headed. The statement above that one could not compare fruits is possibly one what they believed in. You CAN compare fruits. US have SAT and other exams including high school grade points conducted by different schools and states that are used in admission qualifications. These results are mashed together by registrars to determine who gets in and who does not. But the ladies and gentlemen holed up in an Abuja hotel could not look into last ten years' mechanisms used to admit students to see if the new exam is as good as it is advertized. They will wait till the students graduate to see weaknesses.

Very smart indeed. This even when the results indicate disturbing trends that have not been explained.

6 the members present OVERWHELMINGLY voted to SEPARATE the universities from the polytechnics and CoEs as follows:

- minimum score for universities:left at 180

- minimum score for polys and Coes: reduced to 160

Polytechnics are different from universities. They award different diplomas, and are intended to accomplish different things. Why are they meeting over admission standards? Should this topic be in the agenda? But it is so let us deal with it.

7 & 8. So where does Aduba get his notion of lowering scores to "get some people in?"

I got it from the STATS provided. Prof. Ojerinde's numbers indicated that that there are enough candidates who scored over 200 to fill all the existing places in the universities so to set the standard at any point below this is lowering of standard. The points made on item 8 have just relative values. IF ESUT.for example, has applicants who enthusiastically want to attend ESUT but scored 180 while there are no more available 200 score students ESUT should go on with the number of 200 scorers they have. The rest did not meet the minimum standard otherwise there is no need for minimum standards. Following the points on item 8 could ESUT go below 180 to meet the college department's needs? The answer is no. The same logic ought to be used if the standard is set at 200. Prof Aluko's argument would still not make sense even after all the scorers of >200 have been exhausted. If the Great Ife (I was tempted to say UI, but it would be too provocative) attracted the entire 717,000 >200 scorers and is not able to admit them all, when it cuts off, the rejected would automatically drift to ESUT or elsewhere OR WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR. This will force ESUT to evaluate and correct what is wrong with it that good students are willing to wait for one year rather than attend it. That is what the market place commands.

Will you send students to universities that they did not choose? This is a great question. The answer is No. Ife would try to expand its facilities to accommodate more in the future. Students would decide whether to go to another school or wait for next year. Colleges that would not attract high quality students would have to reevaluate their everything and to make adjustment. What our learned VC's tried to do is to avoid anybody having to make hard decisions. It is cuddling. This is the judgment the market place is supposed to make and Prof. Aluko's question illustrates the cowardice of the assembled men and women. They did not want to address what they are doing: If I do not find good students I will go get somebody from the street. Any reason why we do not have any Nigerian college in the under 100 African universities list? This is the answer.

8. There is a third fallacy that Aduba has adumbrated: that there are ENOUGH students about (say) 180 to fill the university vacancies.But he forgets that EACH student has a right to:..."

Again we reach a decision point. We must make decisions, very hard decisions. If a student wants to get into engineering or technology but fails to score >200, he/she must go back to school and work hard to make the mark just as a candidate who scored

9 God distributes his talents EVENLY - it is OPPORTUNITIES that differ.There are Northerners in the South, South-Westerners in the North,..

I agree with the statement and that is what I did not see in Prof. Ojerinde's numbers. This result was tabulated by states of origin, which I interpreted to mean that if a SW lives in the north he would be classified as a SW and a northerner in Lagos would be classified as a northerner. The result shows that a SW no matter where he/she lives is more likely to score >200 than a northerner no matter where she lives. If the results were tabulated by residency the case for opportunity would have been made. One could then say that the schools in the West are better than the schools in the North. But that is not what Prof. Ojerinde numbers say.

12 thereby debunking another one of Aduba's insinuations that "The 2011 Nigerian students are so smart that more than 60% of them would be expected to turn out to be in first classor upper second class on graduation."

I want to state what my assumption is that UTME is Nigeria's SAT and an exam that predicts a student's ability to pursue a university education. If this assumption is wrong then my statement becomes questionable. If it true, then I stand by my assertion. Is UTME such and exam if not what is it and why would college admissions be based on it? If UTME is the assumed predictor of college performance the higher one scores the higher his final performance at college. Now there are things that could happen at college that cannot be predicted by the exam but students with a perfect 400 score would be the most likely to get first class. There could be students with 180 who might join them because they "grew" while in college and there would be 400 scorer's who might flunk out because of dire circumstances they got into while in college. But the bulk of the top performers would come from the top performers as indicated by their UTME results. If final results are significantly different from UTME prediction, then UTME has failed in its most important mission.

So my Prof, I wait for your closing arguments. I hope I have fully rebutted your assertions.

I still hope that you would succeed at Otueke for your success is your success but your failure is our failure. My grand children, nephews, nieces, etc might be attending the university.