By Abdullateef Bamgbose
South East Senate Caucus has expressed worry over what it described as “curious and highly suspicious,” examination glitch in some centres in Lagos, especially in the South-East in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.
The caucus, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, signed by its Chairman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said it would be disheartening “that there is a narrow agenda being pursued to deliberately shortchange and harm the future of our children.”
Though the caucus after a careful assessment of the report of the ugly incident, noted with cautious optimism the efforts being made to mitigate the near disaster, particularly the rescheduling of the examination, warned that a future reoccurrence will be unacceptable.
Nonetheless, South East senators, he added welcomed the timely acceptance of fault as expressed through the open declaration of regret and tearful apology by the Joint Admission and Manipulation Board’s, JAMB, management, particularly its Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede.
Notwithstanding, the lawmakers hope that such display of penitence in public would not be an effort to mask a future sinister agenda aimed at harming the educational advancement of children of the South East region.
“The so-called glitch as curious and suspicious as it were is enough to erode confidence and dangerously lower national pride among the future generation.
“The relevant national education drivers must recognise the inherent danger of injecting hateful politics and narrow parochial consideration in policy enunciation and its implementation.
“That the glitch happened in the whole of the South East raises pertinent questions that must be answered by JAMB to assuage the growing frustration and fear among the people of the region, particularly the children who are directly at the receiving end. We must pursue a Nigerian agenda and not a narrow one that will ultimately injure national unity.
“Education remains one of the most important bedrock of any society’s advancement. It is one major indices of development in every facet of life that can never be faulted. Education is a major pivot that triggers national development. Every child is entitled to it, therefore, we must not play roulette with it?” Abaribe declared.
Therefore, he said the South East Senate Caucus is at alert and under pressure, as it unequivocally demands firm assurance from JAMB and other national educational policy drivers that there will never be a reoccurrence of such scandalous glitch in the future.
