JAMB Under Fire: Calls Grow for Underage Candidates to Use UTME Results or Face Public Backlash

Renowned scholar and author Farooq Kperogi, who was born in Kwara, currently resides in the United States and teaches communication at Kennesaw State University’s School of Communication and Media in Atlanta, Georgia. Farooq has time to contribute to current affairs, even if he chooses to overlook the chaos in Nigeria. His “Notes from Atlanta” are enjoyable to read. I have to admit that I am proud of his scholarly contributions on the relationship between global communication and the communication practices of marginalized groups, which demonstrate his extensive knowledge and excellent understanding of various topics.

Though not always, I have had good reason to concur with the majority of Farooq’s shared viewpoints. I disagree with the man I have grown to respect from a distance, as evidenced by his recent contributions to JAMB, which include the appalling way he handled the 2025 UTME, which led to a national crisis and verifiable deaths.

The allegation against JAMB under the supervision of Professor Is-Haq Olanrewaju Oloyede was only briefly touched upon by Farooq in his essay. His defense of JAMB was predicated on the claim that technology malfunctions are a global occurrence. He provided multiple instances of technological failure.

Fortunately, he shed additional light on how such serious issues were handled. According to Farooq, excuses were made, money was reimbursed, coupons were given to ease the suffering of those impacted, and tests were rescheduled based on the situation.

Additionally, he rejected the demand that the JAMB registrar quit because he invited interested parties and allowed for inspection. Farooq also objected to the ethnic bias that some people were putting on the issue.

If Farooq was born in the Southeast, a region that has been mistreated since the end of the civil war, and he sees that the Southeast has no budget for water resources in the 2025 budget while another zone has more than N66 billion allocated, he must wonder why. He will undoubtedly feel unhappy if, as a Southeasterner, he sees that the area is left out of the national train project. Farouq will not be pleased if he looks at the gas master plan and discovers that the zone is left out even though the gas is extracted from the area.

You must feel deceived if he is from the Southeast and his child received a UTME score of 300 but is denied admission to study medicine, while another Kebbi child received a score of 120 and was admitted.

The people who are accusing JAMB of ethnic profiling have good grounds to demand a thorough probe, and Prof. Oloyede’s resignation will allow for an unrestricted investigation. No one has any personal ill will toward him personally.

To guarantee that what occurred doesn’t happen again, a transparent procedure is all that is required.

Until worried stakeholders voiced their concerns and confronted the board, JAMB was not aware of any technical errors. Prior to it, the board was airing the irrational charge that applicants were cheating on exams. Innocent applicants were falsely accused of cheating by the unjust accusation.

During an on-air celebration of successfully apprehending cheaters, the Minister of Education caused mental agony and public disgrace.

When the board was shown to be incorrect, it asserted—without evidence—that technology had failed. After careful examination, it was discovered that JAMB’s reliable technology was still in place. The board acknowledged human error when it ran out of lies, but no one is facing charges, and there is no procedure in place to ascertain whether the mistakes were intentional.

JAMB’s following behavior was largely unsatisfactory. In defiance of sound advice, the traumatized pupils’ next exam was rescheduled quickly and on a day when some of them were taking the WAEC exams. JAMB provided no compensation to lessen the impact of the suffering it had brought about.

As a result, 71% of those who took the hastily rescheduled test received scores lower than the average of 200.

I want the JAMB Registrar to know that the affected candidates and the affected zone are not pursuing him, regardless of if he is engaged in any heinous agenda. They only demand that UTME be uniformly standardized and that everyone be treated equally and without bias.

I questioned JAMB’s authority to conceal the results of candidates who were characterized as underage in my most recent show on the subject. Since the candidates have a right to know their results, I contended that JAMB’s action constituted a violation of contract. I contended that both their freedom from discrimination, guaranteed by Section 42(1) of the 1999 CFRN, and their right to education, guaranteed by Article 17 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, had been infringed.

The JAMB Registrar intimated in an interview that he considered leaving his job because of the problem but was convinced that doing so would mean forsaking the candidates. This is self-serving once more. Nigerian teenagers who dared to dream have become the target of law enforcement actions by JAMB, led by Prof. Oloyede. A lower court ruling that declared JAMB’s harsh policy to be discriminatory and a breach of the right to education has landed the organization in the appeals court.

JAMB’s relentless pursuit of a case against teens is tantamount to lawfare by a strong government agency. The board should have followed the High Court’s decision rather than waging a legal battle using taxpayer funds.

These children are praised and not made fun of, tormented, or threatened in other countries. Here are a few instances: At the age of 15, Korean child prodigy Kim Ung-Yong received his degree from the institution.

American material scientist Alia Sabur enrolled in college at the age of ten and completed her studies at the age of fourteen.

American youngster Tanishq Mathew Abraham enrolled in college at the age of eleven and earned a degree in geology at the age of thirteen. At the age of 13, Karl Witte received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Giessen. Balamurali Ambati became the youngest doctor in the world in 1995 after earning a PhD in medicine from Mount Sinai School of Medicine at the age of 17.

At the age of 17, Ruth Lawrence became one of the youngest female PhD holders in mathematics when she received her degree from Harvard University. At the age of 17, Norbert Wiener graduated from Harvard University with a PhD in mathematical logic and went on to become a cybernetics pioneer.

The news that the underage applicants’ withheld scores had been made public—some of them scoring higher than 250—came to me while I was composing this view.

However, JAMB said that the results will not allow the candidates to be admitted to the institution since the board claims that the young candidates signed a pledge not to utilize the results to further their studies. This claim is unfounded because JAMB has no grounds to compromise any Nigerian child’s future education.

We plan to contest in court the legality of a contract made by a minor without the necessary guidance; therefore, I’m not sure who is thinking on behalf of JAMB.

In Nigeria, it is possible to successfully contest the legality of an undertaking signed by minors (underage candidates) in relation to the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

In Nigeria, as was previously stated, minors are typically not allowed to sign legally binding contracts. The idea that children might not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions is the foundation of this theory. The undertaking is voidable since the candidates who signed it are juveniles and lack the legal capacity to enter into a contract.

This argument is supported by the possibility that they did not completely comprehend the significance of what they signed and did it without parental or legal supervision.

The aforementioned engagement is unconscionable or voidable since JAMB exploited the youngsters’ ignorance and exerted excessive influence over them.

I have no doubt that the court will adopt a protective posture toward kids, putting their welfare and best interests first, in accordance with our laws and established precedents.

A court may be inclined to declare the undertaking void if it were to examine its legitimacy, particularly if it finds that the minors lacked sufficient comprehension or direction.

Underage candidates may be able to use their UTME results for admission purposes if the aforementioned commitment is revoked, subject to additional requirements and rules. I will thus advise JAMB to get the right advice and take the necessary action. Our teenagers who dared to dream must be free of JAMB’s grip.