OPINION:MMESOMA, JAMB AND THE REST OF US
MMESOMA, JAMB AND THE REST OF US
Tobi Amusan hit the airwaves recently for her exploits on
the race track. Nigerians felt so proud. Many people identified with her. Her
kith and kin in Ogun state were quick to tell the world she is their daughter.
Pupils in the primary school she attended lined up singing the National anthem
and waving the flag in her honor.
The following weeks were replete with news of great
academic exploits by young Nigerian lads both at home, in neighboring African
Countries, even as far as China.
Records were being set in almost all our ivory towers.
We once again saw hope in the future generation.
Governments and the philanthropic world went to town
rewarding and honoring the record breakers, most especially to encourage others
to great exploits.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board was
established by a legal instrument on February 13th 1978.
The Board has been conducting the Universal Tertiary
Matriculation Examination (UTME) annually since then.
For forty-five years, there was a best student announced
for each examination.
They were celebrated and often given cash and incentives,
including scholarships.
In the past decade or thereabout, monetary and property
gifts became so pronounced for the high-performing pupils.
2023 was not any different.
Miss Umeh, Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere,
a student of Deeper Life High School, Mowe, in Obafemi Owode Local Government
of Ogun State was named as the highest scorer with 360 out of 400 marks.
Miss Umeh hails from Anambra
state in Eastern Nigeria.
The applause had hardly
settled when there was a challenge that the JAMB declaration was false.
Ejikeme
Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi,
Anambra State came out with a claim the other Anambra student who the Joint
Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) claimed had the highest score of 360 in
the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation was actually not the best.
She came up with a score of 362.
JAMB was placed at Golgotha by an angry nation who lives with a pent up
anger at a national systemic failure where nothing works. They chose to believe the young girl rather
than the examination board.
Is it not the same JAMB where a
mystery snake is said to have sneaked into the accounts office in Makurdi, the
Benue State capital and made away with N36 million cash?
To
prove her point, Miss Ejikeme went on all media, Social, Print and Electronic.
Her innocence, coherence and articulate responses to questions fooled
many.
JAMB came out with sanctions
against the “innocent” girl claiming she forged the UTME scores. Her actual
scores was said to be 249.
19-year old Mmesoma sought a restraining order on
JAMB and any of its personnel from issuing any further comments on the alleged
forged results till further notice.
Her father, Romanus Ejike, insisted that his
daughter had been exceptionally brilliant from nursery school, stressing that
linking such individual to forgery was unfortunate. He urged the exam body to
stop defending itself and tell the whole world the truth.
Osita Chidoka, a former
minister of Aviation and owner of the CBT center where Mmesoma took the
examination noticed two notable discrepancies during his investigation.
Firstly, he noticed that the name of the CBT centre where Mmesoma took the
examination was inaccurately stated on the result. This inconsistency raises
doubts about the accuracy and reliability of the information provided.
Secondly, Chidoka observed that the result template used for Mmesoma’s
examination differed from the official template used by JAMB in 2023.
Even after the Directorate of
State Security had questioned her, the young girl insisted JAMB was wrong.
Donors, Philanthropists and Well-meaning
people lined up to give honors to the new genius from the east.
The social media especially was
awash with reasons why Mmesoma was being maltreated. She also enjoyed the
attention and granted so many interviews. Many hash tags were created in her
defense. Miss Kemi Olunloyo, a known social critic and others brought in the ethnic/political
card.
Miss Ejikeme, they claimed, was
being marginalized because she is from Peter Obi’s Anambra.
The Anambra state Governor, Charles Soludo, set up a panel to investigate the matter. It was headed by the Commissioner for Education and all stakeholders were involved.
Faced with naked facts at this stage, Mmesoma admitted she forged the results. Her would-be benefactors and defenders were let down. The victim became the villain.
JAMB’s sanction withdrawing her result and banning her for three years stands.
There
are lessons to learn from the Mmesoma Ejikeme story.
Nigeria
is a country where people read and hear about fraudulent and outright criminal
activities committed by people in high places and they go scot free and are
even celebrated. Stories of people in power allegedly floating forged
credentials daily fill the airwaves. These are the things Mmesoma’s generation
grew up with.
Nigerians
love quick fixes and short cuts. They buy exam papers; cheat in exams; steal
from the government or change their test results as in this case.
Quick
fixes and miracles have become ingrained in the mind of the new generation.
Our kids
have learned bad habits from the rest of us, especially the politicians.
Our Machiavellian
reward system is also a big problem. People don’t want to know how you do it;
just do it. Parents and Society only want to see results even when it is
obvious the means has been crooked. We refuse to build the self-confidence of
our children by continuously encouraging them to work hard and stay honest. This
is the environment Miss Ejikeme grew up in.
The
thought of untold wealth by the daughter of a commercial motorcyclist is great
temptation.
Mmesoma
may have thought that fabricating her scores was the shortest way to win a
scholarship and attain fame.
Ibo people are known for intense
competition for wealth, fame, popularity and success. Such intense rivalry
results in boiling-point envy. Adults constantly boast about their wealth while
the young ones from underprivileged homes like Mmesoma are constantly the butt
of jokes and taunts from their peers. Age-grade societies and town unions offer
veritable platforms for members to compare and contrast themselves with each
other’s socioeconomic statuses.
Miss Ejikeme may have been
compelled to change her score just to beat another Anambra kid who was already
the highest scorer in the same examination.
Adult and peer group influence is
also fingered in this case. It is highly unlikely that Mmesoma could have done
what she did alone. She got the information about the App used for the
falsification from either a friend or an older person.
The
frenetic and hysterical social media crowd is guilty as usual. Majority do not
wait to find out the truth about an issue before jumping to conclusions. They
are quick to bandy such beer parlour opinions with authority and finality. So
many theories were espoused telling whoever cared to listen a million reasons
why Mmesoma Ejikeme was being crucified.
Former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo on his part called on Nigerians to encourage the 19-year-old Anambra student, Mmesoma Ejikeme for scoring 249 in her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Miss
Ejikeme is guilty. So also, is the rest of the society.
Mmesoma
represents the new generation of children we are breeding.
I have
seen many converts becoming the greatest advocates. Sending her to prison will
ruin her.
A better
option will be psychological rehabilitation and counseling. She can become an
ambassador of a campaign against Examination Malpractices. Her three-year ban
may be reduced to one.
The fame
she always wanted could thus be achieved.
Mmesoma Ejikeme is a product of the society WE created for her
generation.
#pardonMmesoma
Femi Ladapo (Femolad) writes from Ibadan Nigeria
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