Concerns Grow Over Education in Northern Nigeria After UTME Data Release

A recent discussion on social media about the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) applications has raised alarms about education in Northern Nigeria, especially in the North-west region.

This conversation started with a post on X by Aminu Nass, a mathematics professor at the Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST) in Wudil. He highlighted a comment from Dr Bashir Jelani.

"This is not about Arewa’s poor JAMB results. The number of registered candidates should worry us more," Dr Jelani said.

He pointed out that Kano, with a population of 17.5 million, is about three times larger than Benue, which has 6 million people. Yet, Benue had 99,000 candidates for the 2026 JAMB, which is much higher than Kano.

"If that doesn’t scare you, look at Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara, which had only 17.4k, 17.7k, and 15.6k candidates, respectively. Each of these states has a population roughly comparable to that of Benue," he added.

Dr Jelani noted that the total number of students who took the 2026 JAMB in Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara was just 51,000, which is about half of the number in Benue alone.

His post drew many comments, with many people expressing worries about education in northern Nigeria. A review of official data by PREMIUM TIMES showed that Benue State had nearly double the applications for the 2026 UTME compared to Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara combined.

At the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s 2026 Policy Meeting, Benue's candidate applications were recorded at 104,409. In contrast, Kebbi had 18,812 applications, Sokoto had 18,786, and Zamfara had 16,744. The total for those three states was only 54,342.

This total is about 52 percent of what Benue had, even though the three states have a much larger population combined. According to the National Population Commission’s 2023 estimates, Benue's population is about 6,259,867.

Kebbi is projected at 5,711,801, Sokoto at 6,501,265, and Zamfara at 5,990,131. Together, these three states have an estimated population of around 18.2 million, which is about 2.9 times that of Benue.

Based on calculations from PREMIUM TIMES, Benue's application rate for the 2026 UTME stands at about 16.7 for every 1,000 residents. Kebbi's rate is about 3.3 per 1,000, Sokoto's is 2.9, and Zamfara's is 2.8.

Combined, the three North-west states have about three applications for every 1,000 residents, compared to Benue's 16.7. This means Benue’s application rate is around 5.6 times higher than the combined rate of the three states.

The analysis uses the entire population of each state, not just those eligible for university. This means it does not give the exact number of young people applying for higher education.

Dr Jelani argued that the focus should not just be on how well candidates perform in UTME but also on how many young people register for the exam. The data reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES showed the main comparison remains valid.

There is a difference between applications by state of origin and the number of candidates who take the exam in a particular state. The figures used in this analysis are based on state of origin.

JAMB also releases registration numbers by state during the registration process. In a March 2026 bulletin, for example, 83,147 registrations were recorded for Kano and 69,860 for Benue. But these figures cannot be directly compared to state-of-origin numbers since some candidates register or take the exam outside their home states.

This issue is not new. In the 2024 Policy Meeting report, JAMB noted 87,124 applications from Benue candidates. Kano, which has a population more than twice that of Benue, had 76,584 applications.

Kebbi recorded 17,664 applications, Sokoto had 17,453, and Zamfara had 9,478. JAMB pointed out that raw application numbers need to be looked at alongside state populations for better comparison.

The NPC estimates Kano's population at 15.67 million in 2023, while Benue's is 6.26 million. This means Kano has about two and a half times Benue’s population, yet Benue had more UTME applications in 2024.

These numbers also highlight how many students continue through secondary school and seek admission into universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and other higher institutions.

Discussions about education results in northern Nigeria often focus on how students perform in national exams. The JAMB figures show that participation itself is just as important.

Before a young person gets into UTME stats, they usually go through primary and secondary schooling. But many children in the North-west face challenges in this path.

UNICEF’s Nigeria Education Fact Sheets, based on the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey from the National Bureau of Statistics, estimated that 48 percent of senior-secondary-school-age children in the North-west are out of school. This is higher than the 28 percent in the North-central region, where Benue is located.

In June 2026, UNICEF reported that over half of children in the North-west were out of school, as governors from the area promised to tackle child poverty and social protection.

The agency pointed to issues like poverty, insecurity, displacement, and lack of access to essential services as challenges facing children in the region.

The UTME numbers alone cannot explain the lower application rates in specific states. Many factors can play a part, including secondary school enrollment and completion rates, performance in WAEC and NECO exams, family income, security issues, access to schools, early marriages, and the availability of higher education institutions.

Some of the application totals may include candidates whose registration fees were covered by governments, lawmakers, foundations, and others through free UTME registration programs.

These programs help some candidates avoid registration costs, but PREMIUM TIMES has not confirmed how many applicants in Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara got help or how many would not have registered otherwise.

For now, the numbers show the gap but not why it exists. They also indicate that discussions about education results in these states should include how many young people reach the point of taking the exam.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to JAMB for clarification on final 2026 state-of-origin figures, the different classifications used, and their assessment of the gap. JAMB had not replied by the time this report was published. The report will be updated when they respond.