By Babatunde Ayedoju

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Before the last edition Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) took place this year, hardly did anyone know Mmesoma Ejikeme from Anglican Girls Grammar School, Nnewi, Anambra State. However, her name went viral after she claimed to have scored 362 in the exam, a situation that should have made her the overall best candidate for the exam, only for JAMB to announce that the result she presented to the public was fake. The examination body said she actually scored 249.

The examination body in a statement by its Acting Director, Press and Publicity, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB explained that the candidate, Mmesoma, simply falsified a copy of a result slip of another candidate named “Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle”, who sat the UTME in 2021 and scored 138.

According to JAMB “It is also instructive to note that the candidate, in her statement, has inadvertently revealed the rightful owner of the result she is parading when she pointed out that the QR code on the result slip showed the actual owner of the said result before she peddled a lie in an attempt to obfuscate the truth.

“Furthermore, the public is also to note that the Board stopped issuing Notification of Result slips after the 2021 UTME for the simple reason that candidates were falsifying them. Consequently, the Board has been issuing actual UTME RESULT Slips (not notification of results) since 2022 complete with the photograph of each candidate.

“Similarly, the public is also invited to ponder on the fact that out of all the candidates that sat the 2023 UTME, only Ms. Ejikeme Mmesoma parades the obsolete ‘Notification of Result.’

While restating that the Board was not aversed to public scrutiny, Mr Benjamin disclosed that the issue had been handed over to relevant security agencies for a thorough investigation to unravel the masterminds of yet another unfortunate scam. This is alongside the three-year ban that the exam body has slammed on Mmesoma over the scandal.

Still on this matter, Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, said she was the one that raised the alarm after the girl honoured an invitation in the process of the plan by the state government to honour her.

Chuma- Udeh said that after Mmesoma’s result was published online, she invited the girl for the purpose of a recognition by the state government, adding that when Mmesoma brought her result, she observed that it was not directly from the JAMB printout.

According to her, it was at that point that she became suspicious, which made her to get in touch with JAMB to confirm the result, stating that she was taken aback when JAMB told her that what was circulating was not its result. She said it was at that point that her ministry turned back the girl, while JAMB began investigation into the matter. According to media reports, the Department of State Security (DSS) is already investigating the matter, even as the Anambra State Government  also set up a panel of enquiry to solve the puzzle.

Chief Innocent Chukwuma, owner of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing, had promised Mmesoma a scholarship of N3 million. In fact, the money had reportedly been paid into a dedicated account before the scandal started. Therefore, he announced that he was going to withdraw the scholarship. Chief Chukwuma, however, added that he would restore the scholarship if the embattled candidate was later proven to be innocent.

Meanwhile, as the matter was being debated, a video went viral online, where the teenager claimed that she did not forge her UTME result, contrary to the allegation brought against her by JAMB.

In the video, she said, “My name is Ejikeme Mmesoma. I’m the owner of this result. I went to the JAMB portal to print this result and this is the result they gave me. This is my aggregate, 362. This is exactly how I printed it out from that site.

“So saying that I forged my result is what I don’t know and I am traumatised that they accused me of forging my results because I’m not capable of forging my result. This is the evidence.

“Ok, they said I forged my result, they scan the QR code on my result and it showed a Yoruba name — Omotola Afolabi who scored 138.

“The same Omotola scored 338 when it was rechecked and this evidence showed that there is a problem.”

This video drew reactions online from several quarters. Some netizens who mostly identified themselves as lawyers advised Mmesoma to drag JAMB to courts, while some analysts stated that there might have been internal collaborators within the exam body. Even the father of the girl, Mr Ejikeme Romanus, also defended his daughter by saying that the 362 score was a reflection of her academic excellence. He said that she had been a highflyer right from primary school.

In contrast, JAMB spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, while speaking on television, denounced the viral video in which Mmesoma affirmed that she scored 362. Mr Benjamin said that her posture in the viral video showed that an unseen person was guiding her on what to say.

Another concerned Nigerian who reacted to this story was former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka. He advised Mmesoma to “come clean” and explain how she got that result and who led her down that path, saying that the result she had been parading was fake.

Mr Chidoka, who said that the embattled candidate sat for the exam in his Computer Based Test (CBT) centre, noted that he had seen two red flags – first the name of his centre on the result paraded by Mmesoma was not written correctly; secondly, the result template was not consistent with the format currently used by JAMB.

He said that while giving her the benefit of doubt, he had long expected her to come out clean and explain how she got the disputed result.

The former FRSC boss commended JAMB’s forthrightness in handing the matter. While stating that past records showed the integrity of his CBT centre, he advised Mmesoma to state the truth of the matter, adding that he would personally lend the weight of his voice to appeal to the exam body for leniency if she did.

While we still await DSS’ report, the panel set up by Anambra State Government has released the report of its investigation. According to the report which was published online, Mmesoma confessed that she forged her result.  According to media reports, her father who initially defended her also owned up, saying that the girl did not confess to him on time.

Dr Daniel Ikuomola, a criminologist, noted that we are in the era of technology; unfortunately, individuals and institutions are not careful enough. He said that many cases like this go on without being reported, adding that it is not peculiar to JAMB.

He further blamed the trend on the fact that a lot of ICT experts have left the country for economic reasons.

While stating that being a minor, it is possible Mmesoma did not act alone, Dr Ikuomola said that every crime is a lesson for the criminal justice system. He, therefore, hinted that there is a technological gap in our public institutions which we need to improve on by investing more in technology.

The seasoned criminologist recommended that when dealing with minors, exam bodies should send results to parents of children, instead of the children alone.

Commenting on the scholarship that was initially awarded to Mmesoma, Dr Ikuomola said that the sponsor should have verified with the exam body before taking such a step.

Dr Mrs. Kemi Adebola, a sociologist, also said that what happened is nothing new. Her words: “Every year, exam candidates try to cheat the system, and sometimes they are aided by their parents. We have lost our values, and even parents are not helping matters.”

According to Mrs. Adebola, though one may say that the suspect is a minor, some older people must have aided her, because people are so greedy for gain that they are no longer conscious of due process.

“The problem of Nigeria does not lie with leaders alone but also citizens, supposing that the girl was able to get away with it, what would become of her in future?” She further asked.

Mrs. Adebola advised that we should not lose our hope in positive change, adding that a good leadership can help to enforce the right thing.