Column
JAMB Mass Failure: Harvest Time; Not Tragedy?
By Bola BOLAWOLE
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”Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).
The above scripture is a key concept in Christian theology, which emphasizes the principle that our actions, be they good and be they bad, will have consequences. Another word for it is “payback” time! As you lay your bed, the English would say! Does this key Christian concept also apply to states, countries, and nations? I think it does – and this is where a country like NIgeria will run into problems because we are a people who do not believe that actions have, or should have, consequences. Here, we eat our cake and have it; we cut corners and engage in a fire brigade approach to serious issues. To quote Frederick Douglass, we want rain without thunder, neglecting the fact that before we can have pounded yam, yam must pass through pounding in a mortar. To refine gold, it has to pass through fire.
The raging controversy of the moment is the latest UTME examination into institutions of higher learning conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Seventy percent or so of the candidates who sat for the examination were said by JAMB to have scored below 200 over 400 marks. Bedlam! Parents, candidates, and those who see nothing good in the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration and would waste no time in jumping at anything to give it a bloody nose have feasted on the controversy. Busybodies and meddlesome interlopers, as a judge once described them, are asking for the head of JAMB and for the President to quit office! Unless we are very careful and resolute, social media hysteria will not allow a diligent investigation of what went wrong – if any – so as to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The wisdom of the elders is that went a child trips and falls, he surveys his immediate environment, but when an elder slips similarly, he looks behind him into the past to find out the “because of why”, if I must quote Dr. Ishola Olomola (as he then was) my History teacher at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Mercifully and interestingly, it is not every commentator that is losing their head over the trending JAMB mass failure saga. In the midst of the hysteria (some honest, even if misinformed, but others contrived) voices of reason are struggling to raise their head above the cacophony of voices screaming “Crucify JAMB”, and “Stone Tinubu to death”!
My first cousin, Arc. Tunde Imolehin, shared one of such informed commentaries with me days ago; so impressed was I with the writer’s viewpoints that I decided to bring it to my readers attention today while I save my own write-up on the same JAMB mass failure saga till Sunday. Titled “REJOINDER: A NATION HARVESTING THE SEEDS IT SOWED” and written by Tijjani Sarki, it reads:
“The viral write-up titled “INTERNET AND THE EMERGING ZOMBIE GENERATION IN NGR” strikes a nerve, but it barely scratches the surface. The truth? What we are witnessing in the 2025 JAMB disaster is the result of years of collective negligence, starting from the home (and moving to) the classroom, and (then) all the way to the corridors of power. Let us not pretend this failure was sudden. This isn’t a tragedy, it’s a harvest: A harvest of bad parenting, compromised values, fake schools, weak policies, lazy students, and a government that plays dead when the future is burning.
“PARENTS: YOU GAVE THEM PHONES, NOT PRIORITIES: We handed smartphones to toddlers but never handed them books. Now they scroll 10 hours daily—TikTok, gossip, unregulated skits, and internet trash while their textbooks gather dust. You reward your child for “going viral”, not for reading. You paid for “special centres” (for them) to cheat, then act shocked when they can’t pass JAMB unaided. You raised screen addicts, not scholars.
“TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS: FROM BLACKBOARD TO BACKDOOR: Our classrooms have become certificate factories. Schools now focus more on school fees than sound education. Private schools mushroom daily—many without qualified staff or libraries: just uniforms and hashtags! Teachers who can’t write a sentence are preparing students for national exams. School owners are more concerned about the next term’s ‘graduation party’ than lesson quality. ‘Help’ in exams is now part of the service package. Pass by fraud, fail in life. We have teachers who sell answers and schools that sell illusions.
“GOVERNMENT: DEAD SILENT WHILE STANDARDS DIP: From federal to state level, the government has played the role of a passive observer as education crumbles. Budgets are padded, not prioritized.
“Policies are copied from foreign systems with zero local relevance. Monitoring? Non-existent! Oversight? Forgotten! Qualified professionals are ignored; the clueless are licensed to run schools. You abandon the education sector to vultures, now you act surprised that it is rotting.
“STUDENTS: YOU CHOSE COMEDY OVER COMPREHENSION: Yes, we must talk to the students, too. Many have traded excellence for entertainment. They mock brilliance, worship influencers, and scroll endlessly while failing repeatedly. You know Instagram trends, but not the formula for velocity. You spend hours rehearsing TikTok dances but can’t write a coherent paragraph. You want to “blow” but not to grow. You skipped preparation and prayed for miracles. Even miracles need effort!
“OTHER HIDDEN CULPRITS: THE UNMENTIONED FACTORS: I.Peer Pressure: A toxic culture where reading is mocked and shortcuts (are) celebrated. II.Mental Health Neglect: No guidance counselors, no safe spaces, just exam fear and trauma. III. Lack of Digital Discipline: Technology meant to aid learning now fuels endless distraction. IV.Parental Illiteracy: Many parents cannot help because they themselves were never helped.
“We have raised a generation that can edit videos, build followers, and stream content, but can’t study without (the assistance of leaked) questions.
“THE WAY FORWARD: FROM SHAME TO STRATEGY: Enough (of) talks. What we need is a total overhaul. We must: i. Return parents to their primary role as the first educators. ii. Flush out unqualified teachers and shut substandard schools. iii. Redesign the curriculum to reflect present-day realities and future needs. iv. Invest in teacher training, digital learning, and school infrastructure. v. Revive the reading culture in homes, media, and communities.
“This is more than about JAMB. This is about national survival. If we don’t act now, we (will be) breeding doctors who will misdiagnose, engineers who will design death traps, and leaders who will sell our future for gigabytes and greed. Let’s not bury the truth! Let’s fix the future!
I agree with Sarki that the above are some of the major problems plaguing the education sector today and that the JAMB mass failure is just one of its many symptoms. While there may be other specific reasons that also account or contribute to the JAMB mass failure, the general problems itemised above must be addressed by those concerned while we allow JAMB conduct its own specific investigation into whatever might have gone amiss with its lastest UTME examination.
There is hardly any critical sector of the Nigerian society that does not need the declaration of a state of emergency to arrest the rot in the system. One-time Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, once chorused the saying that no nation can rise above its educational development; thereby emphasizing the crucial role of education in national development. This suggests that the quality and accessibility of education directly impact a nation’s progress, prosperity, and overall standing on the global stage. Therefore, if we say we are interested in development but allow the rot in the education sector to fester, then, we are liars and the truth is not in us! If we sow sparingly into education – as the government at all levels do – we cannot but also reap sparingly (2 Corinthians 9:6).
FEEDBACK
Why was everything about Jesus made so controversial?
The submissions on the “controversy” over Jesus Christ struck a wild, discordant tune in me… Now, as long as humanity prevails on Earth – and Satan is the lord of the Earth – THERE WILL ALWAYS BE CONTROVERSIES. As surely as there will always be Light and Darkness. What I always counsel at every turn where these issues arise is that EVERY TRUE CHRISTIAN SHOULD HOLD FAST ON TO HIS GOD – AND BE STEADY ON THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE IN JESUS. Why? There is even strong controversy over the existence of GOD – isn’t it? IF these doubters cannot SEE God, can’t they see the WORKS OF HIS HAND? No wonder, it is written: “The fool says in his heart that there is no God” Just as Bolawole noted, I always inform that it is NOT possible for mortal man to FULLY understand the ways and workings of God – NOT until we come into unity with Him in Heaven. The backbone of religion is the SPIRIT – and it is in the INDIVIDUAL calling, awareness, and choice realm. – Babatunde Faniyan, journalist, copywriter and author, was Lagos City editor of the Daily Times.
*Former editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-chief of the Westerner news magazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in the New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.