Throughout the outgone week, the Nigerian media temporarily looked away from the excruciating hardship and pains the citizens are going through as a result of the rising cost of living to beam its searchlight on the misadventure of Miss Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme, who was said to have altered her Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) scores in the 2023 examination. The development, unfortunately, attracted several comments, for and against what became a burning issue of the moment, when the news broke out, but was later doused when it was finally discovered that the youngster, Mmesoma indeed, committed the offence. If the way and manner Nigerians reacted on the matter is equally the same measure they condemn the many wrongs going on in our society, Nigeria would be a beautiful place one would be proud of.
This is not to say we are in support of bad conduct or behaviour. Far from it. Efforts should therefore not be spared to determine every case(s) of forgery on its merit and magnitude no matter who is involved. Such matters should be investigated and the culprit sanctioned. Mmesoma, a young girl from Anambra State of about 19 years of age surprisingly, scored herself 362 in the last UTME examination whereas her original scores were as follows: English- 64, Physics – 54, Biology- 74, Chemistry- 57, bringing to a total aggregate score of 249. This matter created apprehension and suspense across the country for weeks. But to the relief of all stakeholders, and Nigerians as a whole, a probe panel set up by JAMB and Anambra State government revealed that it was a case of forged result.
Mmesoma has admitted that she altered her result and apologised, and also asked to be forgiven. But her 249 score, a good score for that matter, has already been withdrawn and and she has equally been barred from sitting for JAMB for the next three years by the examination body. The issues that arose concerning Mmesoma’s case is indeed, part of the problems Nigeria is grappling with. How on earth could anybody believe that an adolescent of 19 years would alter her result and for a brilliant chap she is, Mmesoma who everybody testified had been one of those who dusted others in her class from nursery through to her secondary school days.
The question is, what does she want? Maybe the challenge of result racketeering had been the practice in JAMB in the past, but unknown to the students, the JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede may have upgraded the JAMB systems that makes it difficult for the candidates to cheat and easy to catch those who may indulge in examination malpractice, like the case of Mmesoma. It is also heartwarming to hear from the spokesperson of JAMB that the exam body is not resting on its oars to sanitise the system by ensuring that examination scores are awarded by merit. That the Department of State Security (DSS) rose swiftly in this case which prompted JAMB to publicly defend the integrity of its operations, showed that a body like JAMB, even with what is going on in the country, should not have integrity problem.
And for the House of Representatives to have set up a probe panel also means that, it cannot be business as usual. It’s unfortunate that delinquents will misrepresent the body like JAMB in the public arena, such that our ethnicity fault line this time was exploited to further deepen the message of distrust the society is still going through. On the other hand, we should also be concerned about the behaviour of Miss Mmesoma who by all measures is not a dull student but chose to throw caution to the wind. Howbeit, we cannot throw away the baby with the bath water.
It is also an opportunity to tell other youngsters that crime does not pay but rather brings shame to the offender and the family. We are sure, based on the public admonitions that Miss Mmesoma must have learnt her lessons. However, we urge the authorities concerned on this issue to ensure that the young lady as bright as she is, does not fall in harm’s way owing to the trauma this issue may have caused her by ensuring that she is closely monitored, going forward, and possibly allowed to continue her education just as most Nigerians have appealed on her behalf. We advise our young ones therefore to avoid short cut to success because sooner or later, they would be discovered. It does not augur well for any individual or the society!
