Ninety six students below the age of 16 were admitted into Nigerian universities for the 2025/2026 academic session, it emerged on Tuesday, at what education stakeholders have described as the country's first national engagement dedicated entirely to underage students in tertiary institutions.

The forum, organised in Abuja by the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), drew 283 participants under the theme "Achieving Success in Higher Education of Underage Students Admitted in the 2025/2026 Session," and brought together vice chancellors, parents, education experts, child development specialists, legal authorities and the underage students themselves.

Professor Emeritus Peter Okebukola, President of Global University for Innovation (GUNi Africa) and chair of JEOG, described the initiative as unprecedented, stating that no higher education system anywhere in the world had established a national support framework for exceptionally gifted underage students comparable to the one introduced by JAMB Registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede.

Each of the 96 admitted students was required to score at least 320 in the UTME, obtain at least 80% in post UTME examinations, score at least 80% in the Senior School Certificate Examination, and attain at least 80% in an independent expert assessment interview before gaining admission.

Oloyede stressed that the admissions were "neither accidental nor sentimental," tracing the policy on age requirements to the 1981 National Policy on Education, which was designed to align learning progression with cognitive and emotional development. He noted that some Universities, including the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan, strictly uphold the 16 year admission benchmark regardless of academic performance.

Okebukola disclosed that mentors had been individually assigned to each of the 96 students, with institutions, parents, counsellors and administrators all expected to help ensure their success. "Our task today is to ensure that precocity is met not with neglect or indifference, but with wisdom, structure and genuine love for the young," he stated.

The engagement featured three technical sessions covering pedagogy, psychology and legal frameworks. The first examined instructional and mentoring strategies for gifted learners, with presentations by Professor Uchenna Maristella Nzewi of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor Foluso Okebukola of Lagos State University and Professor Grace Eno Nta of the University of Calabar. The second session, moderated by Professor Gaji Fatima Dantata of Bayero University Kano, examined psychological challenges associated with underage university life, including emotional adjustment, stress management and counselling.