By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
There is a crying need for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to urgently undertake a supplementary Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for the candidates who could not sit for the examination due to no fault of theirs.
It bears repetition that the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) left much to be desired as some centres could not sit for the examination while in other centres electricity and network problems made a mess of the process.
Even some of the candidates who sat for the examination in some other centres could not have their results published. It would be wrong of the JAMB authorities to end up punishing the victims due to no fault of theirs.
It is so unfortunate that this great tragedy is somewhat being swept under the carpet despite several protestations.
A typical example of JAMB failure occurred at 12 Noon on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at the examination centre in Anplus International Services, via Afor Market Bypass, on Agulu to Nnewi Road, in Adazi-Nnukwu, Anambra State.
All the candidates could not write the examination, and all pleas to have it re-scheduled fell on deaf ears.
The plight of the candidates who were due to write the examination at Anplus International Services, Adazi-Nnukwu was not an isolated case as some other centres in the Awka/Enugwu-Ukwu area in Anambra State suffered similar fates.
It is in the light of these unforeseen failures, and the spirit of natural justice and equity, that this plea on the conscience of JAMB authorities is being made to set a supplementary examination for these helpless, frustrated, deprived and silently suffering Nigerian youngsters whose future is being toyed with.
It is incumbent on the JAMB leadership to act on the side of justice. The cries of the students and their parents and guardians should not be left unattended to. It goes against the grain for parents and wards to pay all the due fees only for their loved ones to fail without having to take the actual examination in the first instance.
It is not as if the supplementary examination will cost a fortune. All it would take is for the JAMB authorities to do a comprehensive stocktaking of the 2022 examination.
Every centre where there were issues should be identified. The candidates can then be invited to do the computer-based test (CBT) in centres where the computers function optimally.
The mark of greatness is to rise from failure. It is understandable that JAMB is facing enormous challenges given the undeveloped and underdeveloped telephony and internet penetration in Nigeria.
There is no need to duck from the challenges as if they never happened. It is by properly addressing the outstanding issues that JAMB will win the respect of the public. Pretending that matters did not go wrong in some centres is not the right way to go. Things can only go progressively worse if past wrongs are swept under the carpet.
As the old proverb stresses, “A stitch in time saves nine.”