As the Joint Admissions andMatriculation
Board, JAMB, released the results of the 2019 Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME, a 15-year-old boy from Abia State emerged the best candidate by
scoring 347 marks considered as the highest by the board.
Similarly, a 16-year-old boy from Abia State came
second by scoring 346 marks just as a 17-year-old from
Osun State trailed behind with 345, considered by the
board as the third best result in the 2019 UTME.
But the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who
announced this at a media briefing, Saturday, however,
said the best candidate may not be admitted in the
University of Lagos, which he chose as his first choice
because of age.
He gave the names of the three best candidates as Ekene
Franklin;Igban Emmanuel Chidiebube and Oluwo Isaac Olamilekan
Oloyede did not disclose the intended courses of the best performing students.
Oloyede insisted that although the best scored candidate applied as an undergraduate at the University of
Lagos,he may not get admitted on account of being
under-aged.
Franklin was followed by Emmanuel Chidiebube from
Abia state, aged 16, who came second with 346 points,
while Isaac Olanilekon who applied to study at Obafemi
Awolowo University(OAU) came third, scoring 345.
According to the examination body, some of the pranks
which candidates deployed to undermine the process
included, multiple registration, impersonation, deliberate
distruption of the examination process, manipulation of
biometrics, collusion of some private CBT centres with
parents, syndicate of closed centres as well as extortion
of candidates.
He explained that these infractions accounted for the
delays in releasing the results, noting that the agency has
been taking pains to screen the candidates biometric
details with a view to uncovering those who engaged in
multiple registration.
Oloyede while giving a breakdown of the results, said
some students registered 42 times using same finger
prints, multiple names in a particular centre but the
biometric verification system deployed by the board
uncovered their identity and facilitated their arrest.
“Some of the strategies deployed to compromise the
integrity of the examination were multiple registration.
“It would be recalled that JAMB had cautioned in the
media that no candidate should register more than once
and that multiple registrations adversely affect data
which impact negatively on education planning in the
country.
“We went further to announce that any candidate who
wishes to gain admission through Direct Entry and had registered for UTME need not apply for DE separately but
use the opportunity of an upgrade to the DE status at no
cost without having to register more than once. Double
registrations led to the cancellation of some results last
year but we realised that this year not only double
registrations but also multiple registrations were recorded.
“Someone for instance registered as many as 23 times
for just a single examination! the foundation of
examination malpractice is laid at the point of
registration with the active connivance of some CBT
centre owners who allowed themselves to be infiltrated
by those who parade themselves as owners of tutorial
classes.
“Unfortunately, some elite institutions that charge
exorbitant fees, which they had made the parents part
with in the name of secondary education, became active
in the procurement of ‘best results’ for their students at
all costs. These characters have permeated the system
such that it is Herculean to confront and dislodge them.
When one of the examination bodies recently decided that
one category of teachers would not supervise its public
examinations, all hell was let loose. However, the truth of
the matter is that the body is correct in its resolve”.
Lamenting how candidates now engage in
impersonation, the JAMB Boss said, “in the 2019 UTME,
we were able to identify a large number of impersonators
who have been writing UTME for candidates. Most of the
tutorial masters specialize in recruiting such professional
writers for the candidates.
“They do so by using the names directly or variants of the
name or by multiple registrations. An example is
Anambra State where two centres registered a large
number of impersonating candidates. (PICTURE) In such
cases, the results of the candidates have been cancelled
and the CBT centres delisted.
“We have also tracked the registration centres and the
computers used. In cases where we were able to
ascertain the culpability of the centres, we delisted them.
Where we have doubts, our principle is that we would
rather allow 10 criminals to go scot-free than allow an
innocent person to be unjustly punished”.
