From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The Chairman/CEO of Innoson Group of Companies, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, has declared his readiness to investigate the claim by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s 362 score in the 2023 Unified Matriculation Tertiary Examination (UMTE) was fake.
Chief Chukwuma, yesterday, in Nnewi said he would write to JAMB for all it could provide in respect of Joy’s UTME result to assist in the investigation and would also reach out to Joy’s school Principal for the girl’s academic records from the time she enrolled in the secondary school till date. He said the investigation team would as well find out Joy’s performance in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) and National Examination Council (NECO) results.
He said the investigation would extend to the Ministry of Education, adding that it should be thorough to unravel what transpired.
“We will find out the truth from JAMB and we will also go to her school for her academic records to know her capability academically, whether someone writes for her or not. If the girl is involved in a criminal act, our scholarship to her will be withdrawn. But if she is Innocent, the scholarship will stand.
“We will do a full investigation to unravel what happened. If she is shortchanged, we will expose whoever is involved.
“To say she will be prosecuted is not the issue. If they want to prosecute her, they should bring the evidence of what she did for everybody to see. You can’t prosecute someone without proving what the person did.
“When I was told that a student of a public school recorded the highest score in the JAMB examination, I sent for the principal of the school and the principal confirmed to me that it was true that the girl scored the mark.
“I said to myself that such a brilliant girl if properly educated will be beneficial to our country and the world at large, so I decided to award her a scholarship so that nothing will stop her from attaining a University education.
“When I awarded her the scholarship, I deposited N3million in a dedicated bank account and told the Principal that the money is strictly meant for Mmesoma’s education in the university; that any time she needs to pay any fee in the school, they will let me know so that I will sign for withdrawal of money from the account. I made the arrangement so that nobody, including the girl’s parents, can divert the money to another thing,” Chief Chukwuma added.
He said the investigation team would find out if it was somebody else that manipulated Mmesoma’s result for her without her consent or that she deliberately faked the result to deceive people that she was a brilliant student.
“If I find out that she deliberately faked her result, I will cancel the scholarship because I won’t encourage crime. So, I will make an inquiry to find out what actually happened.
“I didn’t know the girl before. I heard that she hails from Enugu State but studied in a public school in Anambra State, so my interest is to make sure that I support her to realise her potential in education and be useful to our nation, that is all. And to encourage other younger ones to be serious with their academic pursuit, ” he said