The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has sparked a heated debate on social media following its announcement that it is working towards establishing a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) centre in Ottawa, Canada, from 2027.
The proposed centre is expected to provide Nigerians and other prospective candidates living in Canada and other parts of North America with an opportunity to sit the UTME without travelling to Nigeria solely for the examination.
But the announcement has divided Nigerians online, with some questioning the demand for such a centre and describing it as a misplaced priority, while others have defended the initiative as a relatively inexpensive way of expanding access to Nigerian tertiary education for Nigerians abroad.
The debate has also drawn direct responses from JAMB Registrar, Professor Segun Aina, and the Board’s Acting Director of Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin, who have defended the proposal and sought to clarify how JAMB operates its examination centres outside Nigeria.
Announcing the plan, JAMB wrote on X:
“For Nigerians in Canada, the UTME is coming closer to home.
“JAMB is working towards establishing a UTME centre in Ottawa, Canada, expected to commence operations in 2027. The proposed centre will make it easier for eligible Nigerians in Canada and across North America to sit for the UTME without travelling to Nigeria solely for the examination. It also represents a bigger opportunity to strengthen the connection between Nigerians in the diaspora and Nigerian tertiary education. More access. Fewer barriers. Closer to home.”
The announcement immediately generated questions about the number of prospective candidates likely to use the centre, the financial implications and whether JAMB should instead concentrate its resources on addressing challenges facing candidates within Nigeria.
One of the strongest reactions came from popular X user @OurFavOnlineDoc, who wrote:
“A useless clueless government always thinks of ways to squander money that is already scarce on ideas that are flatly brainless. Setting up jamb center in Canada. When the jamb centers you have in Nigeria are not even properly run. A government of incurably mad people.”
Aina personally responded to the criticism, explaining that the proposed centre would not involve JAMB purchasing or renting a building in Canada.
He wrote:
“Hello sir, I think if you want to help the system you aggressively criticise, it should be through constructive engagement and not mudslinging… that you don’t understand something or don’t agree with it doesn’t make everyone incurably mad as you say.
“Why are we opening access in Canada? UTME is currently being written in about 10 countries as a service to enhance access to education. We also conduct the exams in correctional service centres for the same reason. So, the number of candidates is not the main driving force. Despite multiple centres in Africa, there are no centres in the whole North America. Specifically, there have been enquiries from potential candidates, and we expect more following the announcement.
“Who could possibly be interested? Any one of the 100s of people who move back yearly for one reason or the other including the children of many service personnel with tenured postings all around the world.
“Are we going to buy/rent a building and employ staff there? No! We partner with the Nigerian High Commissions in the various countries. We set up temporary spaces within their premises and use their staff to assist us run the exams.
“Has any money been spent on this so far? No! We were in Canada for a conference and decided to use the opportunity to make this arrangement.
“As someone who chose to serve, I will continue to look forward to being held to account by all manner of people both polite and rude, but we must be objective and fair to people in service, we must be patriotic and promote our country.
“I’m sure in the course of my stewardship, I will give you good reason to drag me and the management. Just not today – we did a good thing.”
Beyond the exchanges over the principle behind the proposal, other Nigerians raised questions about the data supporting the establishment of another foreign examination centre.
X user @olorunwababs said he examined JAMB’s existing overseas examination arrangements and questioned whether the demand justified another centre.
He wrote:
“I am curious about the actual demand of a Canadian exam centre. So I did some digging… JAMB already conducts UTME in 10 centres outside Nigeria, including London, Accra, Johannesburg and Jeddah. In 2026, only 379 candidates out of over 2 million students registered across all 10 foreign centres. In 2025, JAMB reported spending N113.8 million just on supervising UTME across seven foreign centres.
“So, before adding another centre in Canada, I think there are questions we should answer: How many Nigerians in Canada actually want to write JAMB and attend universities in Nigeria? How many have asked for a centre there? What will it cost to run, and how many students is it expected to serve?
“There may be genuine demand. If the data show that, great. But this is why research matters in public decision-making. We should first understand the problem, measure the demand, and then spend public resources on a solution that responds to what the evidence tells us.”
Another user, @UmarAdeleye, also questioned whether JAMB could achieve the same objective through partnerships with established examination or testing organisations in Canada rather than committing substantial resources to a new centre.
He tweeted:
“The idea is understandable, but there is a legitimate question about priorities and cost. If JAMB is investing resources to establish and operate a UTME centre in Ottawa, what will the cost be compared with simply partnering with an established examination/testing body in Canada to administer the exam? JAMB has more pressing challenges within Nigeria like CBT infrastructure, network reliability, registration bottlenecks, candidate support, admission-related confusion and the general difficulty candidates face navigating the system. Expanding access to Nigerians in the diaspora is good. But government institutions also have to ask whether they are solving a problem in the most cost-effective way. If a partnership can achieve the same objective at significantly lower cost, perhaps the resources saved can be redirected to improving the experience of the millions of candidates taking the UTME and navigating admission in Nigeria. Access matters. But so does prioritisation.”
Another user, @kingadetunji_, questioned the need for a physical examination centre in Canada, suggesting that JAMB should consider remote examinations or partnerships with existing online examination providers.
Addressing JAMB directly, he tweeted:
“Dear JAMB,
Most people who write professional certification exams in Canada do it online. Most university classes are taken online and exams are done remotely.
Instead of investing in an asset heavy centre, I suggest building an online platform to conduct the exams remotely (long overdue) or partner with eProctor Canada to get this done.
Don’t waste money on this project. Don’t!”
Other reactions were considerably more critical.
@Magical_Telecom wrote:
“Very very silly organization. During my ND days and we wanted to do regularization, they left us inside the rain, what wouldn’t take them 30mins to do. They made us come to their office at 5am, many people slept outside the gate so as to be attended to early. They didn’t fix that but they want to take JAMB to Canada. They’re mad”
Another user, @Oludeewon, questioned whether Nigerians living in Canada would be interested in returning to the country for university education.
“So you expect someone in Canada to write JAMB to come school in Nigeria? As how nau?” the user tweeted.
Social commentator @Morris_Monye also criticised the proposal, writing:
“The way our people in power think is mind-blowing. JAMB are saying they will setup JAMB centre in Canada for people to write the exam to study in Nigeria. This is why it’s important for the right people to be in power. The mental asylum is loose currently”
His position was challenged by @layibonfrere, who argued that Nigerians in the diaspora already send their children to Nigeria for secondary and tertiary education and that establishing an overseas UTME centre does not necessarily mean building a permanent CBT facility.
The user wrote:
“Diasporans already send their kids to come study in Nigeria (secondary & tertiary). A jamb Centre doesn’t necessarily means a full blown CBT centre with 100-200 computers but a partnership with the consulate/embassy where a part of the office is used for exams. E no go far..”
JAMB’s Acting Director, Public Affairs and Protocol, Fabian Benjamin, also responded directly to Monye, arguing that critics should consider the demand for international examination centres before dismissing the initiative.
Benjamin wrote:
“Why not ask questions before writing? Have you first asked how many candidates sit for this examination at the London Centre, Jeddah, Ghana and other international centres? Have you also considered the demand for the Canada Centre from Nigerians and other candidates seeking admission to study in Nigeria? The habit of dragging your leaders on issues which you have little or no knowledge is unfair. Most of these comments are born out of ignorance and a lack of understanding of the issues involved. The Board will continue to do everything within its mandate to promote Nigerian universities by admitting international students into Nigerian universities, despite the efforts of those who, wittingly or unwittingly, seek to undermine the nation’s education system. How will you feel if you know that over 100 candidates have already indicated their interest to sit the exam in Canada. Let us promote the nation please”
The debate also returned repeatedly to the number of candidates currently using JAMB’s foreign examination centres.
@GSaint_ME wrote:
“For 2026, JAMB reported 379 candidates registered across its 10 foreign examination centres. No registered candidate wrote Jamb in Canada. 370 from all over the world. Abysmal failure Nigerian higher institutions can even attract Nigerians. We need to kill corruption !!”
Another X user, @DrPhebean, compared the proposal with longstanding calls for Nigerians abroad to be allowed to participate in Nigerian elections from their countries of residence.
“They’re thinking of setting up JAMB centres that may eventually have nobody applying, while Nigerians in the diaspora have been clamouring for voting booths in those countries so they can be part of the electoral process here.
“But no, that won’t happen because it doesn’t suit them.”
Another user, @Timiglow, argued that resources that could be committed to the Canada initiative should instead be directed towards schools and students within Nigeria.
The user tweeted:
“This is the waste we are talking about. We have many dilapidated school buildings that need to be rebuilds, many schools that needs updated computers and conducive learning environments, and we have many students who can’t afford to pay their own school fees…but you are establishing UTME in Canada where they don’t need you. You think Nigerian parent living in Canada will send his children to come and attend Nigerian universities? Seriously, you guys are really retarded”
Aina again responded directly, stressing that the initiative does not require JAMB to construct, purchase or rent an examination facility in Canada.
“We are not building/buying or even renting a space for this. We partner with the Nigerian High Commission and use their spaces/staff like we do in the 9 other countries where UTME has been written in previous years. You don’t agree with a policy that doesn’t automatically make you smart and others retarded. 100s of people want to write UTME from abroad for various reasons.”
The Registrar’s interventions have consequently shifted part of the debate from whether Nigerians in Canada would want to sit the UTME to the actual cost and operational structure of establishing the proposed centre.
According to Aina, no money had been spent on establishing the Canada centre at the time of his response, while the Board intends to work with the Nigerian High Commission rather than purchase or rent a dedicated examination facility.
He also maintained that candidate numbers are not the sole consideration behind operating overseas UTME centres, arguing that the centres form part of JAMB’s efforts to provide access to Nigerians and other prospective candidates outside the country.
Benjamin, meanwhile, disclosed that more than 100 prospective candidates had already indicated interest in sitting the examination in Canada.
Critics, however, continue to question whether the level of demand and likely cost justify expanding JAMB’s international examination network, particularly when millions of candidates within Nigeria continue to depend on the country’s CBT infrastructure.
The controversy has therefore opened a wider discussion about the internationalisation of Nigerian tertiary education, access to the UTME for Nigerians in the diaspora and how public education institutions should balance overseas expansion with challenges facing students at home.
If the proposed Ottawa centre becomes operational as planned, Canada would join the countries outside Nigeria where prospective students can sit the UTME as part of the process of seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
