Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, has adopted Miss Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme, the embattled student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, who allegedly tampered with her 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result to emerge the highest scorer in the examination.
Professor Chuma-Udeh, who spoke in the State capital Awka, said she adopted Mmesoma to help her actualize her dreams in life.
Mmesoma bust into national limelight after Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) announced that she manipulated her UTME score from 249 to 362, stating that she was falsely parading herself as UTME highest scorer for 2023.
After internal investigations, JAMB slammed a three-year ban on Mmesoma to serve as a deterrent to others.
In the heat of the controversy, Professor Chuma-Udeh invited Mmesoma to her office and subsequently handed her over to operatives of Directorate of State Security (DSS) who questioned her over the incident.
However, while receiving an award in her office, Chuma-udeh explained that she adopted Mmesoma to see her through school.
According to her: “Mmesoma is not the first person I am adopting. Even as a lecturer, I was adopting children and training them through schools.
“Mmesoma is doing very well and she is still undergoing a psychotherapy class with the State appointed psychotherapist.
“I decided to adopt to adopt her to help her actualize her dreams. She is a human being. So, we cannot throw her away just like that.
“We are not going to let her down. We are still pleading with JAMB to reconsider its decision concerning her.
“Governor Chukwuma Soludo is very passionate about every citizen in Anambra State and so, we will train her through her education.”