Mmesoma Ejikeme, the character at the centre of the tragicomedy involving fake Jamb result according to reports, had owned up to her infractions. But the fact remains she is an exceptional character because if the ploy had worked, she would have become the best JAMB candidate for the year. A feat that would have made her the recipient of various monetary awards and recognitions. 362 out of 400 would have made her a 90 percentile – an incredible performance.
She is a round character because, in the few days of the drama, we have seen various sides of her person – from the innocent pose, to a victim of a fraudulent national agency that will stop at nothing to traumatise a ‘minor’. We also see her in a sense like a picaresque heroine who being the rascal she is must survive by all means through her wits and tricks. So, she was on Channels TV to appeal to the emotion of a nation that is adept at disbelieving herself because of the mire of the overriding narrative of fraud, dishonesty and bigotry of religion and ethnicity in which she lives. It became so easy for many who share geographical home space with her to quickly cry blue murder even after the umpire in the whole shenanigan presented a watertight defence of its operations. The fact that JAMB had discontinued the use of the template she was parading two years ago was not enough to convince the traducers of our land. Even people that one thinks should know and be objective, joined in the macabre dance. I wonder why the state government set up a panel on an administrative issue that JAMB by its operational procedure had envisaged and prepared for before the act was committed.
But how can this young lady take on the whole nation and succeeded in striking a pose of bare-faced innocence, victimhood and traumatised persona when she knew from the onset that she was indeed culpable? What fueled her inglorious confidence that she would pull through believing that all of us can be so easily hoodwinked? Who was the soothsayer that enchanted her into thinking she could swim against the tide in the reckless way she had done? What about her parent that was carrying the emblem of the victim’s parent all through the shameful season? These questions can help in understanding the sensibility of our society and the direction in which we are heading as a nation.
Mmesoma’s wrongdoing pales in the face of otherwise knowledgeable adult characters in this drama who failed to look at both sides of the coin before taking a position on the matter. Everybody who called for an independent panel to look into the matter erred. The chamber that asked JAMB to ‘stay action’ so it can look into the matter is equally wasting quality legislative time. Such, left the substance to chase shadows. Our elders do say that instead of everyone condemning the thief, people gather to blame the owner for how carelessly he has left his goods. If I had left my phone on your table and nobody touched it, I would most probably meet it there when I came back for it.
Innoson, the Anambra State government and other well-meaning award-giving organisations should always confirm results before going public with their benevolence so they will not err out of ignorance. To start with, no candidate or any other body can know or present the overall best candidate in an exam except the examination body that conducted the exam. Nobody has access to all the results except JAMB and until you see all the results how can you decide the highest scorer? So, next time, let everybody wait until the umpire announces the result. We ran into similar troubled water in May 2023 when Hilda Baci declared herself as the new Guinness World Record holder for the longest cooking time before GWR had done its due diligence to know if all conditionalities regarding the exercise had been followed.
For those of us in the industry, just as JAMB had maintained; it would have been difficult for that result to pass through the CAPSS undetected except at an institution that decides to compromise standards and even at that, JAMB would still have detected it, as all admission letters come from their system. So, let others who may be in the same boat as our Picaro character understand that it is no longer business as usual. Prof Ishaq Oloyede with his team has changed the beat, all singers must change their tunes. We hear all manners of stories during admissions – from parents, CBT centres, and candidates but whatever happens, we have always known that truth remains constant no matter who is manipulating it. All other examination bodies should up their games and make it known to all that it is no longer business as usual. If this is the only thing we can vouch for today as a nation, it is a good place to start the process of the much-touted national rebirth.
This is a lesson for those who were caught in the young lady’s web of lies and who revealed their intolerant disposition to all. Let’s allow our institutions to function according to the instruments that set them up, if they err, we should follow due process to seek redress.
Dr Oluwasegun Omidiora
