By Emmanuel Nwafor
After my lessons at the university on May 15, I went for lunch with some friends. I told them about a trending issue in Nigeria, the crisis surrounding the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results, organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). I showed them a video of the JAMB Registrar in tears, alongside a press release titled “Man Proposes, God Disposes.” I explained how students from six states were affected and asked to prepare for a retake starting on May 16.
At first, one of them thought I was joking. The other two seemed unperturbed. “Anything is possible in Africa,” they said bluntly since I was the only African there. That comment stung. Heated arguments followed. One of them cited a 2024 case in the U.S. where the head of the Federal Student Aid Office resigned after he was criticised when technical glitches disrupted the college aid application rollout. “Why can’t that happen in your country?” he asked. “Why don’t your lawmakers summon the leadership of that body to explain what happened?” I had no answer. And that silence was heavier than shame.
Another friend chimed in: “What are the consequences for this so-called human error? If no one is held accountable, your country is regressing into a state of nature. You can’t just summon students to rewrite a national exam in 48 hours as if their time, emotions, and dignity mean nothing.” With these words, I became confused; the pasta became so hard to swallow.
When I returned home, I was heartbroken. I remembered a statement from the book, “Why Nations Fail” by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. In Chapter 10 on “The Diffusion of Prosperity”, the book maintains that education is a threat to authoritarian rulers. The rulers understand that the ignorance of the masses is a guarantee of their own power.
Anyway, I told myself that I should give JAMB the benefit of doubt, but some questions kept popping up in my mind. Why wasn’t JAMB worried when it discovered massive failure? But, is this incident just a coincidence, or is there a calculated pattern of deceit and suppression? Your guess is as good as mine. The UTME is not just an exam; it is a gateway to the future for millions of young people. Why should that gateway become a gauntlet of trauma? And a few Nigerians are saying, let’s move on.
I recall INEC’s response to the 2023 electoral glitches. No real explanations. Just “go to court.” Those who benefited urged Nigerians to “move on.” Now, JAMB follows the same script. This year, out of 1.9 million UTME candidates, over 1.5 million reportedly scored below 200. That’s around 78% failure rate. The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, quickly spun this as proof that JAMB’s anti-cheating measures are “working.” Some Nigerians echoed this, blaming the students for not studying hard enough, but spending their time on TikTok, Facebook, etc.
However, an X user (formerly Twitter), Alex Onyia (@winexviv), was one of the lone voices that stood out and called for a full investigation. “JAMB is messing with these students’ destiny,” he said. “The energy is low nationwide amongst students. They can’t write WAEC with this level of energy.” His concern resonated across social media, especially as more evidence of technical failure emerged.
Eventually, JAMB admitted to errors. On May 14, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, addressed the nation. He spoke about the 2025 UTME glitches with a mix of apology, theology, and explanation, saying that “Man proposes, God disposes”. Then he announced that affected students would retake their exams, starting just two days later. He shed tears for the glitches, and people clapped. One of my friends kept on asking me during our discussion why people clapped instead of asking him to resign.
But tears are not accountability. Sympathy is not a solution. Calling this an act of God ignores the truth: this was a man-made disaster. Critics have rightly asked, why not remark the original exams taken by the affected students instead of asking the children to retake an exam in less than 48 hours?
For me, to address the ethnic colouration attached to this incident already, JAMB should extend the time for the preparation of candidates for the exams. Students need time to prepare. That is the bare minimum of justice. Anything less is cruelty dressed up as a solution. If this is how JAMB treats our young minds, what future are we really building? Exams are not just about showing up; they demand intellectual, emotional, and psychological readiness. For many of these students, this means changing travel plans, spending money they don’t have, and studying under enormous stress. How can this be fair?
Nevertheless, every tear shed on camera cannot wash away the growing stain on JAMB’s credibility and the growing decline of public trust. As a way forward, JAMB should put every mechanism in place and ensure that this ugly incident does not occur. We must fight glitches in our institutions.
• Emmanuel Nwafor is a Catholic priest, journalist, public affairs analyst, and former editor of Maranatha Newspaper, a biweekly publication of the Catholic Diocese of Ekwulobia, Anambra State. He writes from Rome, Italy
(Email:[email protected]).