TheNewsGuru

Tag: JAMB

  • JAMB outcome, suicide and life’s unending challenges – By Francis Ewherido

    JAMB outcome, suicide and life’s unending challenges – By Francis Ewherido

    My article last week generated some questions. But until the Registrar of the Joint Admission and
    Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, is proven guilty of ethnic or religious bigotry, I stand by
    what I wrote. I also support an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the glitch. Anyone found
    culpable should be punished.

    Just in case you are also of the opinion that I don’t understand the enormity of the glitch because I was
    not affected, let me tell you that I am directly affected. My youngest daughter took the exam. She scored
    less than expected.  I know she prepared very well. We (the mum and I) paid for lessons and extra
    classes. Her older siblings also joined in coaching her. We knew she could score over 300. But the first
    danger signal came when JAMB released the summary of the results. We knew her expectations could
    be dashed and lead to a heartbreak, so we started monitoring the release of the full result. When my
    wife went to school to being her home after close of school the day the full results were released, she
    had already seen her result and her disappointment showed in her countenance. There and then, my
    wife started consoling and counselling her.

    By the time she got home I started my own counsel. I told her that this year’s JAMB result is like an
    epidemic, not an illness that afflicted only one person. You don’t carry all the weight of an epidemic on
    your head. Secondly, the Urhobos say, “ihwo ra mrere yavwo g’iye (only the people present can
    participate in offering sacrifice). Absentees cannot participate in offering sacrifice. JAMB can only offer
    admission to those who wrote the exams. JAMB cannot bring people from the moon and give them
    admissions. If the scores are very low, the universities will lower the cut off marks.

    In addition, every university has catchment areas. Some students with low grades will get admission in
    their chosen universities if their states of origin are within the catchment areas. I am sure the universities
    and JAMB will find a way to sort out the poor grades in this year’s JAMB exam. The focus should be on
    solutions.

    My focus today is actually on the traumatized candidates and their families. I sympathise with all those
    who were traumatized. I was also traumatized and depressed and depressed in the 80s by a university,
    not JAMB. I relocated from Effurun, where the rest of my family was living, to live with my father who
    was a school principal in another town as a result of depression (at this time we were grown up, the size
    of the family was also bigger than before, and the entire family could not move with my father to any
    new place he was transferred to). JAMB also disappointed one of my children but we stood firmly by her.

    I sympathise with the Opesusi family on the death of their daughter, 19-year-old Miss Timilehin Faith
    Opesusi. The father, Opesusi Oluwafemi, said she committed suicide by ingesting rat poison. She applied
    to study microbiology and scored 146. With all due respect, microbiology has never had a high cut off
    mark since 1982 when I started following JAMB cut off marks. Honestly, she should have been patient.
    With the general poor performance, she might have got admission with the 146 she scored. My
    condolences once more.  The death of a teenage daughter is not something any family wants to
    experience.

    Consequently, I want to suggest some ways to avoid this kind of tragedy. Family life is getting more
    plastic and individualistic. Children live with their parents but are getting more distant. Some deliberately
    shut their parents out of their lives. Some new developments are complicating matters. Do you see

    houses for rent and sale? They proudly tell you that “all rooms are ensuite.” The implication is less
    interaction with the rest of the family. A child whose room has a toilet and bathroom can spend days
    without interacting with the rest of the family. It is worse if he has a fridge in his room. Android and
    iPhones have everything: television, radio, music, video games, even prayers, Sunday Mass/service, etc.
    Family time together is being eroded. Parenting is becoming a war with many battles. Parents win some
    battles and lose some. Losing some is important to ensure balancing and avoid rebellion. Remember
    Apostle Paul’s admonition. “Do not drive your children to resentment” (Ephesians 6:4). But ultimately
    you have no option but to win the war. Winning means bringing up children who will be responsible
    adults, assets to the society and pride to the family. It’s a tough war because the GEN Zs operate on a
    different wavelength. Their codes are different, but win you must.

    Guiding them on a journey of self-discovery helps because once they know who they are and find their
    purpose/passion, you are a lucky parent. They focus on it, and scarcely get distracted by the vices that
    have derailed many Gen Zs. I don’t want to moralise, but the God factor is very important. Whatever
    faith you profess, let your children have a relationship with God. Some of us, the parents, derailed in our
    younger days, but found our way back. I do not know any religion that encourages suicide. It must be
    ingrained in your children’s consciousness. Your children must understand that life is precious. A
    personal relationship with your children is also very important.

    Teach your children that life is full of challenges. The challenges persist until you die. Age, money and
    position cannot shield you from challenges. Aliko Dangote is still encountering challenges with the
    Dangote Refinery and other businesses. That is the richest black man on earth. And you expect life to be
    hot knife going through butter for you?

    JAMB exam is just one hurdle students need to cross.  In the university, they will meet lecturers who just
    hate their guts for reasons they will not understand; non-teaching staff who play god in their lives; some
    lecturers will want to sexually harass them even though it is forbidden; lecturers who make passes at
    them. When they graduate, getting a job is another hurdle they must cross. In the process, they will
    encounter all kinds of obstacles. After getting the jobs, they are given impossible targets and work with
    superiors who do not seem to be impressed with whatever they do, superiors who want to take
    advantage of them. It just goes on and on. Is it running a business in Nigeria? It is like skating; tough to
    master and needs 100 per cent concentration and commitment at all times. Teach your children that
    “wahala nor dey finish for life.” They should take on every challenge and learn to deal it.

    For Christians, God never promised you a trouble-free life. The Psalmists even wrote that “many are the
    afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord God delivers him from them all (Psalm 34:19).” Suicide is not an
    option. Your children must imbibe that. But sometimes, life can be so cruel, we all need a shoulder to
    lean or cry on. Every family member must collectively or individually provide that shoulder. Also live a
    good and selfless life so that you can have a family or/and friends to lean or cry on their shoulders when
    the going gets too much for you to handle.

  • Ishaq Oloyede’s cross – By Azu Ishiekwene

    Ishaq Oloyede’s cross – By Azu Ishiekwene

    The last time a public official wept on national TV, Nigerians regretted offering her towels instead of buckets to collect her tears. She was acting, but we didn’t know it.

    Diezani Allison-Madueke had just been appointed Minister of Transport and went on a tour to assess some major roads. At the Benin end of the Lagos-Benin highway, she broke down and wept. She was seeing for the first time, outside her bubble, what Nigerians knew and endured daily: poor, hazardous roads.

    Her tears changed nothing. She left the roads in a worse state than she found them, but Nigeria being Nigeria, she went on to become the Minister for Petroleum Resources and subsequently left the place in a more disastrous condition than Nigerian roads.

    On May 15, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, wept on national TV for a different reason. As a result of human negligence, the results of the 2025 UTME examination went horribly wrong, affecting 379,997 out of the 1.9 million students who took the exam. It was not a system glitch as widely reported. Some individuals responsible for patching or updating the servers were negligent, leading to a disastrous outcome.

    Paying the price

    The grief lies in the details. For instance, 19-year-old Faith Opesusi Timileyin, who was re-sitting the exam, hoping to study microbiology if she could improve on the 193 out of 400 she scored last year, took her own life by ingesting poison. She could not bear the shame of failing again. The same echoes of embarrassment and distress resonated across the country as thousands of young people, who made sacrifices and braved difficult conditions to take the exam, now contemplate their fate and what could have been.

    Yet, Nigerians, despite being jaded by years of disappointment with incompetent public officials, can sense the difference between Diezani’s crocodile tears and Oloyede’s misery. One was a con artist; the other, the victim of “horrible, but not unexampled error,” as Farooq Kperogi noted in his column on Saturday.

    Remaking of JAMB

    Oloyede’s JAMB is not JAMB as it was. One of the biggest dramas in the institution’s 47-year history unfolded two years after he was appointed registrar, following his exceptional record as vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin. JAMB introduced computerised examinations in 2014, but the system, still in its infancy at the time, was marred by delays, confusion, and scratch-card fraud.

    Oloyede ordered an investigation, which found that the place was infested with snakes, including boa constrictors, that had allegedly swallowed millions of naira from the sale of scratch cards, except that the snakes were human beings. One Philomina Chieshe, a clerk at JAMB’s Benue State office, swallowed N36 million from the sale of scratch cards and told investigators and the court that it was indeed a snake that had mysteriously devoured the money.

    Killing the snakes

    Seven years after she was arraigned, neither Chieshe nor any of the reptiles in the scratch-card hole have been held accountable for the fraud. Apart from swallowing N36 million, which was equivalent to $100,000 at the time, the snakes also appear to have swallowed the courts and the prosecutors.

    I have criticised JAMB in the past for several reasons, mainly because I still believe that a decentralised placement system, as practised in pre-1978 Nigeria, the US, and South Korea, works better.

    Yet, whatever the inadequacies of JAMB, the board has, especially under Oloyede’s leadership in the last nine years, transformed from a snake-infested wasteland of corruption and mediocrity into one of Nigeria’s most responsive and better-run public institutions.

    Fresh air

    In a country where lawmakers routinely inflate the appropriation bill by billions of naira, and ministries and government departments are broke, unimaginative and opaque, Oloyede is a breath of fresh air. He has remitted over N55 billion to the federal treasury, compared to less than N60 million remitted in the 38 years preceding his tenure.

    But it’s not just about the money. To promote openness, accountability, and inclusiveness on the board, he expanded the decision-making process to include independents and other professionals in monitoring and evaluating the board’s activities, particularly the UTME exam. Still, despite our best efforts, bad things happen.

    ‘Not unexampled’

    The 2025 UTME disruption was a horrible mishap. Still, it’s not without recent examples, one from Oxford University in 2023 and the other from the 2025 US SAT exams, both of which were cited in Kperogi’s article. There was a particularly heart-rending debacle in September 2023 when the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK made a catastrophic error in the Part 2 written results of the postgraduate medical diploma exam.

    Two hundred and twenty-two doctors were informed that they had passed when in fact they had failed, while 61 were told they had failed despite passing. Imagine the horror of the patients who may have been treated by “failed” doctors, not to mention the distress of those who passed but were told they failed, or the anguish of those who made progress yet were instructed to re-sit the exam.

    To resign or not?

    After taking responsibility for the error, Oloyede told the press that he was prepared to resign, but was persuaded that his resignation would compound rather than solve the problem. I agree. I do not share the view that all those calling for his resignation are necessarily out to settle personal scores, even though this may be correct in some instances, especially among politicians who have decided to ethnicise the matter.

    The registrar bears a responsibility to the memory of the candidate who died, to the thousands of hard-working candidates who gave their best in the exam, and to the reputation he has established as an exemplary public servant to reform the system and use the lessons from this tragic episode to enhance the processes and outcomes of future exams.

    Wake-up call

    Parents must also play a role. We exaggerate the significance of UTME results beyond their true value, placing unnecessary pressure on candidates. Under the current system, most universities and institutions of higher learning offer admission based on the weighted average of three examination results. While the UTME result constitutes 50 per cent of the final score, the WASSCE or O/Level results and post-UTME exams, if conducted, make up the remaining 50 per cent.

    Unfortunately, we have constructed a dangerous illusion that everything hinges on performance at JAMB, resulting in a frantic quest for JAMB success that now haunts us. We may never know if Faith would have taken her own life had she realised that a low JAMB score alone does not necessarily signify the end of the road to admission.

    Fall to rise

    Oloyede’s tears may seem insufficient to assuage a nation in grief, but he has demonstrated, over the last nine years and long before he became registrar, that he does not take his job lightly. One mishap should not define his tenure. When the ongoing investigation is complete and the house cleaning done, a sceptical public must know the steps taken to prevent a repeat.

    Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book, Writing for Media and Monetising It.

  • “Omolanke Cannot Direct Pilots” – JAMB Registrar Hits Those Calling For His Resignation

    “Omolanke Cannot Direct Pilots” – JAMB Registrar Hits Those Calling For His Resignation

    The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has dismissed calls for his resignation following the controversies which have surrounded the conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    Speaking on Wednesday during a meeting with stakeholders, including chief external examiners and civil society organizations in Abuja, Oloyede said resigning would have been tantamount to abandoning the affected students in their time of need.

    He also dismissed calls for his resignation, suggesting that those making the calls have no moral ground or authority to make such calls or question his leadership credentials.

    According to him, “truck pushers cannot direct pilots.”

    While the JAMB Registrar disclosed that he considered resignation when the entire saga started, he later reconsidered the move and decided to remedy the situation on ground as much as possible.

    “When this happened, my first reaction was to resign. But people advised me that the students will never forgive you—it would appear as though you abandoned them in their moment of need,” Oloyede added.

    He submitted that many public reactions were fueled by ignorance and misinformation, calling on stakeholders and the media to stop politicizing educational issues.

    This position follows earlier calls from some stakeholders, including the South-East Caucus of the House of Representatives, following controversies that trailed this year’s UTME.

    UTME Not A Measure Of Intelligence
    Professor Oloyede submitted during the interaction that UTME is simply a placement test, not a measure of intelligence and should therefore not be used to judge any candidate.

    “UTME ranks candidates for available spaces in tertiary institutions. It is not the final measure of a student’s intelligence or future,” Oloyede said.

    The JAMB Registrar also mourned the death of a 19-year-old candidate, Opesusi Timilehin, who committed suicide over low UTME scores. He called for a minute of silence in her honour during the meeting.

    According to him, “That tragedy broke all of us. Unfortunately, there were also false reports—some parents called me pretending their children had died, only to ask for money layer

  • UTME: JAMB to hold mop-up exam for absentee candidates

    UTME: JAMB to hold mop-up exam for absentee candidates

    Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it will conduct additional mop-up examinations for candidates who missed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a meeting with key stakeholders to address the challenges encountered during the 2025 UTME.

    Oloyede said that the board would accommodate the estimated 5.6 per cent of candidates who missed the examination by organising a special mop-up exercise.

    He said that the board had extended the opportunity to all the affected candidates, regardless of the reasons for their absence.

    “Normally, we hold one mop-up nationwide for those with one issue or the other.

    “But this time, we are creating a new mop-up. Even those who missed the earlier examination due to absence, we will extend this opportunity to them.

    “It is not that we are doing something extraordinary; in class, you make up an examination when students miss it for one reason or the other; we just don’t allow abuse of that.

    “So we will allow all the candidates who missed the main examination for any reason to take part in this mop-up,” he said.

    Oloyede criticised some public commentators who misunderstood and misrepresented the role of UTME, while clarifying that UTME was a placement test and not an achievement test.

    According to him, the purpose of the examination is to rank candidates for available spaces in institutions and not to measure intelligence or overall academic potential.

    The registrar further stated that high UTME score was not the sole determinant of admission, adding that combined performance, including post-UTME scores and school assessments, could significantly affect a candidate’s ranking.

    While acknowledging the emotional strain experienced while announcing the UTME results, he noted that this was not indicative of an institutional weakness.

    He expressed JAMB’s commitment to resolving issues affecting the examination process, even as he rejected comments suggesting that the administrative failure was due to incompetence or ethnic bias.

    “I want to say this clearly, particularly because I accepted responsibility, not because I do not know how to do the work. I say it for the fourth time that no conspiracy theory is relevant to this case.

    “Something happened; like people who have been doing something well for years and something just went wrong. That I should now throw them under the bus? No,” he said.

    Oloyede, who frowned at those exploiting difficulties to promote ethnic or conspiracy-driven narratives, urged stakeholders to stop ethnic profiling in the education sector.

    According to him, many of the criticisms of JAMB’s operations are rooted in ignorance.

    The registrar, however, commended his team’s efforts, while also appreciating the resilience shown by candidates, many of whom, he said, had continued their exams, notwithstanding the various challenges.

  • JAMB queries 15 UTME re-sit candidates who went missing over choice of exam town

    JAMB queries 15 UTME re-sit candidates who went missing over choice of exam town

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has questioned the choice of exam town chosen by the 15 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) re-sit candidates who were declared missing.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the 15 UTME re-sit candidates were declared missing but have been found and re-united with their families as confirmed by the Imo State Police Command.

    It was gathered that the 15 UTME candidates chartered bus from Onitsha in Anambra State to Okigwe in Imo state to write their rescheduled exams.

    “The school children, the school owner, his wife, the driver, all unreachable,” an X user known as @UchePOkoye disclosed.

    However, reacting, JAMB stated: “This is to inform the general public that no candidates were kidnapped from Onitsha to Okigwe as erroneously reported by @uchePokoye”.

    Explaining further, JAMB added: “The said candidates arranged a vehicle to convey them from Onitsha, Anambra state to write exam at Okigwe, Imo state.

    “On their way, the vehicle developed a fault and unfortunately, there wasn’t a mobile network in the area, as such, they couldn’t call for help.

    “The candidates, according to the Imo State Police, had since reunited with their families, only that Uche Okoye didn’t deem it fit to return to give updates on the misinformation.

    “The questions we’re asking as an agency include – of all the exam towns in Anambra State, what prompted the candidates’ selection of examination towns in Imo State and why group transportation arrangement?”

    JAMB added: “The fifteen (15) candidates who reportedly encountered difficulties while traveling from Onitsha, Anambra State to Okigwe, Imo State for the rescheduled examination had suspiciously selected Okigwe as their preferred examination town during registration, consequent upon which their examination centres were duly assigned to Okigwe based on their choice.

    “We categorically reiterate that no candidate was posted outside his or her most preferred examination town”.

  • 15 UTME applicants declared missing found, reunite with families

    15 UTME applicants declared missing found, reunite with families

    The Imo State Police Command has said the 15 students who were declared missing on their way from Onitsha in Anambra State to write the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Okigwe in Imo State have been found and reunited with their families.

    The command announced the development on its X handle yesterday while responding to a post on the whereabouts of the students.

    The command wrote: “It is true that they made the travel to Okigwe, where they were scheduled to write the UTME. However, their vehicle developed a mechanical fault while at it, but they were secured and have now been returned with their families.

    “We appreciate citizens and stakeholders, such as yourself, who raise awareness concerning issues of security. We encourage the spirit.”

    Also, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu has urged the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) to carry out an independent and transparent audit of its examination infrastructure.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja on the glitches that hampered this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), Kalu faulted what he called the hurried rescheduling of the examination at a time many students were writing the 2025 Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) which required some of them to travel far distances to write the examination.

    According to him, it is only by triangulating internal findings with external audits that Nigerians can ensure that no affected candidate is left behind.

    Kalu also urged JAMB to safeguard the educational path of the affected candidates from the Southeast and Lagos, saying they should not be made to face further stress, having borne the brunt of the glitches.

    He said: “JAMB must provide a clear, accessible mechanism for remark and appeal, especially for those dissatisfied with the hurried retake or who experienced technical difficulties during the second sitting.

    “Furthermore, coordination with WAEC and other examination bodies must continue to ensure that no candidate’s academic progression is impeded by scheduling conflicts.”

     

  • JAMB current challenges, glaring transparency, uncommon accountability and undisputed integrity of Professor Oloyede

    JAMB current challenges, glaring transparency, uncommon accountability and undisputed integrity of Professor Oloyede

    Members of the Civil Society & Media Independent Group of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, who for the past Eight years have been involved in monitoring the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, conducted by JAMB, across Nigeria appreciate the steadfastness of JAMB under the current Registrar, Professor Is’haq Oloyede, CON. FNAL., in delivering a credible examination that is “a key component of admission process for Nigerian tertiary institutions.”

    We, as usual voluntarily monitored the 2025 UTME MOCK and the regular examinations at all the centres our members were able to visit. As usual, we wrote and submitted our reports to the JAMB HEADQUARTERS. Such annual reports include observations, comments, and suggestions on how best to improve or correct on any observed lapses.

    We, however, noted glitches in the release of the 2025 UTME results of some centres due to human errors. This group drew the attention of the JAMB headquarters and other stakeholders to the observed errors and meticulously followed the efforts of the JAMB Registrar/CEO and his team in addressing the problem.

    That is one of the objectives of the monitoring and has been the trend all along. Mistakes are observed, reported and corrected. The Civil Society and Media Group applaud the initiative of the Communication Crisis Management, which led to a world press conference addressed by the JAMB Registrar, Professor Is’haq Oloyede, CON A sober apology was tendered, and the examination was rescheduled at the affected centres.

    Professor Oloyede has once more demonstrated leadership courage to admit and take full responsibility for human errors. Against this backdrop, we plead for more understanding and continued support to the JAMB Management under Professor Is’haq Oloyede to continue to serve the nation.

    A single unusual error that was promptly addressed and corrected should not lead to the unnecessary and unwarranted un-complimentary remarks on JAMB and its leadership. Hitherto, JAMB and its Registrar/CEO Professor Is’haq Oloyede, CON., were role models in the successful discharge of assigned tasks and mandates, transparency, probity and integrity in the face of many hurdles and challenges.

    It is a common knowledge and a topical discourse at many fora including tea cafes and social circles that the track records of JAMB’S successes and enviable achievements under Professor Is’haq Oloyede, CON., are uncommon in Nigeria’s public services and very rare in the private sector.

    The group sympathise with the students and parents affected by the glitches. We appreciate their understanding of the challenges and the cooperation with the leadership of JAMB to address the problem. This is also the time to come together and move in the right direction of finding lasting solutions to problems that JAMB under Professor Is’haq Oloyede has in the last few years fought to a standstill. Best wishes to all.

     

  • Let JAMB and Prof Oloyede be – By Francis Ewherido

    Let JAMB and Prof Oloyede be – By Francis Ewherido

    Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is a man I have enormous respect for. I have not met him personally, but I admire him from afar. That is one of the hallmarks of impactful people. You don’t have to know or have physical encounter with them to feel their positive impact on the society. I have written two article on him before and do not wish to repeat myself here. My focus today is on the 2025 JAMB Exam, the mass failure and the uproar that followed. One of my wards who took the exam in Lagos told me that most of his classmates scored below 200 and the score he got though above 200 was below his expectation because “I prepared very well and the answers were easy.” 

    The uproar has been persistent and like many controversies in modern day Nigeria, ethnic colouration has been read into it. Prof Oloyede is a Yoruba man and devout Muslim, but in all the actions he has taken in public office, I have not seen ethnic or religious colouration.  May be a saboteur caused the the glitch that led to the mass failure because Oloyede will not go out of his way to make students from a certain ethnic group or religion fail massively. He has no reason to do that. He is very knowledgeable and knows the futility. An upright man that I have come to know from afar, he broke down in tears and publicly admitted the errors last Wednesday during a press conference. 

    Some people with religious and ethnic bias and cynics leanings are not impressed. They see his action as shedding of crocodile tears and trying to get public sympathy and have asked for his resignation. Prof Oloyede is not an actor, so he is not acting. He is a professor of Islamic studies. He also does not play to the gallery. He doesn’t need to. He is not one of those sit-tight leaders who want to cling unto power by all means. He’s a simple man and when you live a simple life, your needs are few and very easy to meet. It diminishes the urge to cling to power.

    Oloyede is genuine. Mistakes have been made and he has publicly taken responsibility in a society where people in positions fling subordinates under the bus rather than take responsibility, where people in positions prefer to spend millions of naira to paint a wrong to be right, where people in authority are cocky and would rather insult those with opposing views than simply apologise.

    The issue is, what is the way forward? He assured that the affected 379,997 candidates would be communicated through Short Message Service (SMS) by last Thursday, so that they could reprint their slips the rescheduled examinations on Friday and Saturday. My ward confirmed to me that some of his his classmates have received the SMS to write their exam today (Saturday). This is the Nigeria I crave for. Admit errors and quickly proffer solutions. As humans, there must be mistakes. It happens in every society. How do you react? That is where we have fallen short. Our reaction is what has arrested or truncated our progress as a nation.

    Some people have called for the scrapping of JAMB. Many of us either do not have our facts before we talk or just talk off-cuff. Go and check the records since Oloyede became the registrar of JAMB. In terms of operations, credibility and transparency, there’s been a massive improvement. In fact, in terms of efficiency and accountability, JAMB performs far better than the national average and many other government-owned agencies. And you want JAMB scrapped because of one glitch?

    Some people have called for individual universities to handle their admissions as was the case before JAMB came to be. I am totally opposed to it. Times have changed. There were major criteria then that were expressly spelt out. Nigeria was a much saner and cleaner society then. Things have deteriorated: merit, transparency, probity and accountability, etc. The ivory tower has not been spared the rot. In the 80s when I was in the university, there was still sanity. By the 90’s I started hearing of lecturers being sorted out (bribed). May be it also happened in the 80s and before but I am unaware. 

    Once males and females are together, I cannot vouch that what can go wrong will not go wrong, but there were fewer cases of sexual harassment in the 80s than we have now. It was really rampant a few years ago until some lecturers and professors were convicted and jailed, while others were disgraced. It has reduced, but it’s still there. It now goes beyond sexual harassment. Sex for grades is now involved.

     There is also no transparency in the expenditure of the internally generated revenues and government subvention to some universities. Research grants have also been allegedly diverted. How many universities can submit themselves for audit by government-appointed external auditors without panic? The next thing, various unions will threaten to go on strike. 

    I noticed that one university was producing many doctorate degree students. It is a good development, but I decided to dig further. I asked an insider who should know if all the doctorate degrees awarded were merited. He smiled and confessed that many of them were merited, but some were purchased. I am not talking of honorary doctorate degree. I am talking of the one awarded when the student has been found to be worthy both in character and learning. 

    Nigerians are like the anus. There’s scarcely any anus without some sh*t. It’s just that some are cleaner than others. But those with sh*t-infested anuses need to “off their mics.” People who want equity go with clean hands. Your hands cannot be filthy and you ask for equity. There’s nothing wrong with universities organizing their own entrance exams, but not under the current condition in some Nigerian universities. Many of the students taking JAMB Exam are under 18. The age of consent in Nigeria is 18. Let us not make under-aged girls vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Let us not also increase avenues for extortion of parents by those saddled with admission in Nigerian universities. It is already rampant.

    Let JAMB and Oloyede be. Oloyede has proven to be an upright man at the University of Ilorin as Vice Chancellor, JAMB as Registrar and upright as a practicing Muslim. You remember the story of how he exposed the pilfering of money at Abuja National Mosque. Nigeria needs more people like Oloyede. Nothing lasts forever. Oloyede will bow out as registrar of JAMB after serving his two terms. What is more important is the strengthening of our institutions so that when JAMB gets a new registrar after Oloyede’s tenure, he/she will take JAMB to greater heights. 

    As for Nigerian universities, clean up your act before requesting for the scrapping of JAMB. When that time comes, it will be obvious to all. For now, let JAMB and Oloyede be. They never said they were infallible. That is why he humbly came to apologise. There are many professors like him who don’t have the humility to acknowledge their wrongs.

  • JAMB explains reason for urgent UTME resit for 379,997 candidates

    JAMB explains reason for urgent UTME resit for 379,997 candidates

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has explained its decision to urgently reschedule the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 379,997 candidates.

    TheNewsGuru reports that the examination body had announced the rescheduling of another examination for 379,997 candidates who were affected by the error, which were mostly in Lagos and the five states of the South East.

    It would be recalled that JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, took responsibility for the errors while apologising to the candidates.

    According to Jamb, the rescheduled exam will start on Friday, May 16, 2025, for 379,997 candidates in five states of the South East and Lagos.

    In reaction, Nigerians condemned the short notice given to candidates, citing concerns about the candidates’ ability to prepare for the exam adequately.

    However, responding to concerns, the exam body cited unavoidable clashes with other national examinations and the need to maintain the academic calendar..

    Speaking, Dr Fabian Benjamin JAMB spokesperson ,explained that if the examination were not scheduled at this time, it would conflict with other academic activities.

    “If we don’t do it now, it will be in August. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) are writing their exams. After that, the National Examinations Council (NECO) would start, and then the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB),” Benjamin

  • JAMB: Peter Obi reacts over 2025 UTME glitches

    JAMB: Peter Obi reacts over 2025 UTME glitches

    Mr Peter Obi, a former Anambra governor and 2023 Labour Party (LP) Presidential Candidate  has  decried the 2025 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination glitch.

    He expressed concerns over the recent technical glitches that marred the release of results,   affecting nearly 380,000 candidates across the country.

    Recall that the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, on Wednesday, broke down in tears as he apologised for the errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    “I apologise for the trauma caused to the candidates,” Oloyede said tearfully during a news conference in Abuja.

    Oloyede, at the start of the  briefing, acknowledged “one or two errors” made during the 2025 UTME.
    Obi called for the  reform of public institutions in the country to avoid sensitive glitches that might  turn to a national crisis while speaking with some journalists in Awka on Thursday.

    He commended the JAMB registrar, for his rare show of responsibility and accountability in admitting the error and expressing remorse.

    Obi described the gesture as a commendable act but noted that such high glitch posed  a deeper challenge that  depicted fragility of Nigeria’s institutional systems.

    Obi said  the emotional and psychological toll on affected students remained  massive.

    “The reports of severe trauma and even death, show the critical need for reliability, carefulness and integrity in public examination processes of the country.

    “The failures of such glitches are not minor mishaps because it shakes the very foundations of trust in our public institutions,” he said.

    He urged JAMB and similar bodies to adopt rigorous quality assurance frameworks, including continuous auditing of technical infrastructure, transparent communication, and rapid issue resolution.

    According to him, there must be no room for further glitches  either  in JAMB, nor any arm of government.

    “The cost of repeated failure is simply too high,” he said.