UTME Results Saga: Glitches Not Targeted at Southeast Candidates – Bishop Ikeakor

By Praise Chinecherem

Anglican Bishop of Amichi Diocese, Rt Rev Ephraim Ikeakor has refuted insinuations alleging that the technical glitches that trailed the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was targeted at the people of Southeast.

The cleric wondered what the organisers of the exam intended to achieve by such perceived “injustice” on the people of the zone.

Fielding questions from newsmen during the just concluded Aguata Diocesan Synod in Ufuma, Ikeako said the problem was rather a national crisis which affected candidates from other tribes.

He said, “I keep on telling people this nation won’t move forward until we approach matters with objective mindset.

“If you follow that report, I don’t think it was complete target on Igbo nation and southeast. Heavy population of those affected came from Lagos, go and check the statistics.

“If something happens, my question is, why should JAMB target the Igbo or southeast? Is it to deny them admission or they don’t have enough universities?

“I think everybody should look at that problem from different perspective. That failure, one, there were glitches in some CBT centers that affected the students. And JAMB took responsibility.

“Also, I must say it as a preacher, most of our young people don’t study, but they want to succeed.

“The standard of education in Nigeria also needs to be indicted. We need to really revisit our curriculum, teaching methodologies and equipment in our schools.

“My own stand is that it wasn’t a core Southeast matter. It was a national crisis and by the time the results come out, you’ll see. Are they targeting southeast on what grounds?”

On the candidate that took her life following the outcome of the exercise, the Prelate attributed the sad story to poor parenting, system failure and societal orientation.

He argued that no reason was justifiable enough to warrant such act, stressing that failure remained part and parcel of success.

He said, “All of us should take share in the blame. I think if a child is properly groomed and understands what life is all about, she should have known that suicide is not an option, no matter what.

“From the family background, you need to find out how she was raised. Secondly, the education system has to take its own chunk of the blame.

“This child must have placed her last hope on that exam and they just failed her, and she thought all hope was gone.

“I also want to look at the societal aspect. Success is not all about what you achieve physically. Failure is part of success. Nobody succeeds without failing.

“And if you’ve never failed in anything, then you’ve never tried anything meaningful.

“Even if she felt she failed, now she’s dead, and the exam was retaken, who lost.

“Life is spiced by challenges and the attitude to challenge is what makes one either a victim of the challenge or a victor over the challenge.

“So the girl didn’t properly react to the challenge. After all, she wasn’t the only one involved.”