In many homes these days, the conversation is around the scores children got in the University Matriculation Examination (UTME) held by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in the last two weeks.
Take the case of my neighbour, Mrs. Theodora Ndubuisi, a teacher who has turned into a sister of a sort. We both grew up in the same neighborhood and have maintained cordial relations even after we got married and started raising children. We have kept abreast of the progress of our children, sharing the joys, pains and the frustrations that have come along the way. We just tell each frankly about the performance of our children, when we converse either in person or the phone. There are no pretensions at all. This was the spirit that flowed from her voice when she called one early morning after getting the UTME result of her daughter. “Your baby has disappointed us with her JAMB result; she scored 196 which will not qualify her for admission into University of Lagos, her preferred choice, to study Medicine and Surgery. What do we do now? Unilag does not admit students who score less than 200. And we did not do change of institution and course. Going to private universities is definitely out of the question. I feel so unhappy about this and unsure what to do.”
After listening to her, I took a deep breathe because I could easily feel her pain and disappointment over the below-par UTME score of the daughter. Calmly, I spoke to her and encouraged her. There are many other parents who today find themselves in the shoes of Theodora, my sister from another mother.
Expectedly, the desire of every parent is that their children should achieve academic excellence, to make them proud. When children do well in school, it gives joy parents and somehow increases the lifespan of parents, and encourages to do more for the well-performing child and make more sacrifices. Truly, the joy that comes with the success of a child is more satisfying and fulfilling than the greatest meal ever eaten by the parent or parents. It is an assurance that the child is on the right path of life, moving from one level of success to the next. A child who excels in JAMB UTME and has very good result in West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), is instantly placed at the starting point of his journey of life. Attaining step-by-step excellence in life by a child is the pride of every parent. It elicits joy and happiness in the home especially when that child is the first in the family; therefore, with the lines falling in pleasant places, he or she automatically becomes a young role model and sets example for his or her siblings. But it is heartbreaking when parents put in all the efforts to make the children stand out, but such children, out of laziness, stupidity and lack of focus dash the hopes of parents, nobody jubilates.
Though both parents and children want to score high marks in the UTME, to qualify for admission, it does not always turn out that way. Now that JAMB has started releasing results for the 2023/2024 academic session, it is to be noted that there has never been any time, when all students in the same class who passed UTME, all got into higher institutions the same year. Some will definitely fall by the wayside. It is often said that examination is not the true test of knowledge. Not passing JAMB well and therefore not gaining admission is certainly not the end of journey of life. That outcome does not terminate God’s purpose and one’s destiny in life.
Let’s consider the beautiful inspiring story of the Managing Director of Ace Drycleaning Services, Ibukun Adebayo, whose firm has eight branches. In newspaper interview, he once recounted his ‘ordeal’ in the hands of JAMB.
His words: “I wrote JAMB six times before I finally succeeded and got admission into the university. While I became a JAMB customer for six years, most of my secondary school classmates who studied four-year courses were through with the national youth service when I finally gained my own admission. But while I was on that six years journey to university admission, I understudied my father who owned Laundro-mart. I was my father’s apprentice, secretary, houseboy, personal assistant, accountant and whatever job needed to be done. Every of my father’s errands was meant for me. When any worker did not come to work, I would automatically stand-in for that person; be it at the reception, washer-man, dryer, or ironing section. With constant touch in the factory, in no time, I learnt the nitty-gritty of the business with special emphasis; I mastered the stylish way of holding and ironing agbada. In fact, I became a sought-after agbada ironing specialist which made my father become so proud and boastful of me. His friends started preferring me to iron their agbada. While still working in my father’s business, I learnt all categories of fabrics and the best way to maintain them, I learnt how to operate all the machines, to taking stock of the inventory, stacking of clothes and perfect ironing. Given the experience I garnered from my years of apprenticeship, by the time I gained admission, I started making money almost immediately from my classmates who admired my well ironed clothes and inquired about that. I began charging them to dryclean for them. Unlike some of my classmates who were seeking for greener pastures, I continued with my trade and by my final year, I had saved some money for myself. During my national service year, as members of Apostolic Faith church, I became my pastors’ drycleaner and was also making some money. Towards my graduation, I knew I was not meant for 9-5 job. My goal was to establish my own drycleaning business, which I started from my bath-tub in my house until my Igbo neighbour, who saw the passion in me, voluntarily gave me the initial capital to start my business. Today, I have more than eight functional dry-cleaning centres and over 40 staff.”
Today, Ibukun Adebayo has become a success story and a clear example of the scriptural passage in the Bible that says, “the battle is not to the strong, nor the race to the swift.” His father deserves special commendation for not throwing him away for writing UTME five times before getting admission on the sixth trial. His father bore the pain of failure with him and continued to encourage him until broke the jinx at the sixth attempt. Life must not go in one direction as we all want it. Some of the youths who will gain admission this year might not know how to manage their time and life. For this reason, late former Head, Department of Psychology, University of Lagos, Prof Peter Omoluabi once proposed a General Studies course titled, ‘Time Management’ for 100-Level students. His reason was that some people who get admission into universities could be carried away by the excitement and freedom of the new environment. Some even lose their lives to vices in schools all because the came in at young age, without clearly defined life goals. Such young students could be distracted and lose focus, and get drawn away by the drugs and cultism on campus.
There have cases where notable personalities today had been once addicted to drugs, a habit that developed when they were young students, and clearly from bad influence. A popular male gospel artiste, still remembers his several close shaves with death as an undergraduate cultist before God delivered him. When Chidinma, who is alleged to have murdered Ataga, the CEO of SuperTV, confessed at the Ikeja Division of Lagos Police Command, while being paraded before journalists that she and him smoked “SK” and “Loud” before she allegedly stabbed him to death under the influence of the drugs. She was a young student at the time of the alleged murder. Another case of derailed educationally endeavour caused by lost focus and forgotten purpose.
Patricia Peterside gained admission into University of Port Harcourt to study Accountancy, but was rusticated after six years in school because she could not cope with the rigours of academics. Meanwhile, she kept taking money from her parents with lies upon lies. She remained on campus and wrote JAMB at the seventh year, got admission and started all over again. She spent a total of 11 years in the university for a four-year course before she eventually graduated with a Third Class. Does any parent want this to happen to his or her children?
As parents consider and review the UTME results of their children, this is not the time to take a hardline posture and call down fire on a child did not score a mark that can guarantee admission. Don’t physical, beating and slapping the child. Don’t use your tongue to tear the child to pieces, leaving emotional scars on the child. It is a time for honest SWOT analysis, to discover areas of strenghts, weakness and determine what needs to be done to achieve far better scores next year. While commencing focused studies, the child can also acquire life skills. When a child is driven to take poisonous substances like snipper for the fear of parent’s reaction, that parent has failed and lost out completely.
Dear Nigerian parents, please calm down, do not go over board because of UTME scores that cannot guarantee admission this year. Look beyond today and appreciate their future which is God’s hands.