The youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, has strongly rejected the decision by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to conduct a fresh examination for candidates affected by errors in the recently released results.
On Wednesday, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, acknowledged that errors caused unusually low scores for candidates in the five South-East states and Lagos State. Following this admission, JAMB announced plans to reschedule the exam for those impacted.
However, in a statement released on Thursday, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, described the decision as totally unacceptable. He criticized JAMB for subjecting the candidates to another round of mental torture, stress, and risk through the proposed fresh exam, stressing that the students are not responsible for the initial errors.
“We want to state unequivocally that our people will not accept any fresh examination, having already been subjected to mental torture by JAMB,” Okwu said.
He highlighted the emotional and financial burden placed on candidates and their families, saying the candidates are not in the right frame of mind to undergo another examination after facing mental distress since the release of the flawed results. He also questioned who will bear the cost, pointing out that parents are already struggling with severe financial challenges. Okwu further raised concerns about the security risks involved in traveling to examination centers in a country plagued by insecurity.
Okwu demanded that JAMB allocate a score of 300 to all affected South-East candidates, emphasizing that the low results were due to JAMB’s mistake, not the candidates’ performance. He stated that Igbos are very brilliant people who could have scored 300 and above, and accused the situation of being a deliberate attempt to punish the South-East people and deny them educational opportunities.
He warned that if JAMB fails to comply, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide will take legal action against the Board. “No amount of crocodile tears from the Registrar will save JAMB from accountability,” Okwu declared.
