An official of the National Board of Arabic and Islamic Studies says the board’s certificate is not inferior to the West Africa Certificate Examination and the National Examination Council certificates.
The special assistant to NBAIS’s registrar, Ustaz Abdul-Lateef Adekilekun, said this in an interview on Monday in Osogbo.
Mr Adekilekun said that despite the long history of the board and its recognition by the federal government, most tertiary institutions in the country were not accepting the use of its certificate for admission.
According to him, tertiary institutions across the country need to be more aware of the authenticity and acceptability of the certificate.
“The board was initially established as the Board of Arabic and Islamic Studies in 1960, mainly for Northern Nigeria. In 1967, the board was transferred to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) as a result of creation of states.
“However, in 2011, after 40 years of its existence under ABU, the board became national and was recognised by the Federal Ministry of Education as an examination board. The board became equivalent to WAEC and NECO, with its headquarters in Kaduna,” he said.
The official added that in 2017, the board became autonomous, like WAEC and NECO, and the certificate was internationally recognised.
“Due to Federal Government and National University Commission directives, the NBAIS certificate is being accepted by many universities in the North and some in the South.
“But its acceptability is not as expected in spite of its approval by the federal government and NUC,” he said.
Mr Adekilekun, who noted that the board was out to blend Arabic education with Western education, said 26 states were writing the NBAIS examination with 1,200 affiliated schools spread across the country.
He also said Christians and Muslims attending the school studied Islamic and Arabic subjects with all other conventional subjects, such as Mathematics, English, and others.
However, the NBAIS official appealed to the federal government to set up an advocacy mobilisation committee, which comprised tested and trusted people to embark on a nationwide tour of tertiary institutions.