When the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) announced the 2025 UTME results, the reaction across the country was one of shock, confusion, and deep concern. With nearly 80 percent of candidates failing and 379,997 students required to retake the exam due to technical failures, Nigeria’s education system has once again revealed its troubling fault lines.
This crisis goes beyond a bad exam year. It reflects the systemic failure of a nation that has chosen to digitize critical national processes without first strengthening the foundations. While technology can indeed transform education, its misuse or poor implementation can also destroy the hopes and dreams of millions.
Many students reported blank screens, login errors, power outages, and delays at Computer-Based Test (CBT) centers. In a country where power supply remains erratic and internet access uneven, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Hundreds of centers were simply not equipped to host large numbers of candidates simultaneously. Some centers had to start the exams hours late, while others crashed midway through the tests.
The tragedy of it all was encapsulated in the news of a young candidate who, overwhelmed by his poor result, allegedly took his own life. His score of 154, as low as it seemed, was not the real reason for his action. It was the sense of hopelessness. How did we get here? How did a simple exam morph into a life-or-death situation for our children?
We must remember that these candidates are not just statistics. They are young Nigerians whose futures depend on these exams. For many, it is their only shot at escaping poverty, securing university admission, and building a better life. Failing an exam due to technical glitches they had no control over is not just unfair—it is cruel.
Nigeria’s education sector has rushed into a digital transition with very little planning. CBT centers are often privately operated, inadequately monitored, and ill-equipped to deal with contingencies. Worse still, there’s no standardized support system for students with special needs or from disadvantaged communities.
Why has JAMB not built redundancy into its testing platforms? Why are centers without backup power and internet still accredited? If this system cannot guarantee basic functionality, then it is not ready.
A country like Nigeria, where basic infrastructure is fragile, cannot afford to adopt high-tech solutions without investing in the fundamentals. CBT should be a complement, not a replacement, until we have the infrastructure to support it nationwide. The blind push for modernization—without checks, balances, and empathy—has created a digital divide that punishes the poor and rewards only the privileged few.
For a country already struggling with mass youth unemployment, this UTME crisis is more than a logistical failure—it is a national emergency. Education is the only real social elevator in Nigeria. When that promise is broken, anger and despair fill the vacuum.
Parents, already stretched thin by tuition fees, now face the financial and emotional burden of preparing their children for a retake. Transportation costs, feeding allowances, repeated registrations, and emotional support all come at a cost. And what of the psychological trauma for the students?
Some candidates have expressed deep fear about repeating the experience. They are unsure if the same glitches will occur, if the system will crash again, or if their efforts will be in vain. JAMB has said it will fix the problems—but it said the same thing last year, and the year before.
The psychological trauma of unfair failure, self-doubt, and ridicule from peers cannot be quantified. In a society that puts enormous value on certificates and academic performance, many of these students now walk with the burden of shame for something that was not their fault.
Nigeria must return to the basics. Before implementing CBT at scale, the government must audit all accredited centers, upgrade infrastructure, and ensure compliance with minimum global standards. Also, JAMB must adopt a phased hybrid system—traditional paper testing in areas without reliable digital infrastructure, and CBT where feasible.
There should be real-time reporting mechanisms so that students and center managers can log faults immediately. A centralized command center should monitor testing across all locations with the ability to intervene when technical issues arise.
JAMB should also work with state governments, local governments, and NGOs to establish reliable, government-owned testing centers in every senatorial district. These centers must be equipped with solar-powered backups, stable internet, ergonomic seating, air conditioning, and security presence.
Training is another key area. Many exam proctors do not understand how to troubleshoot common digital problems. JAMB must retrain all personnel and introduce compulsory pre-exam mock tests to simulate the full testing environment before the actual exam date.
Most importantly, JAMB must be held accountable—not only by the government, but by the citizens whose lives its decisions affect. Education is too important to be left to trial and error.
We need a post-mortem report—not an opaque press release. Nigerians deserve to know what went wrong, who is responsible, and what will be done to avoid a repeat. Those found culpable, whether contractors or JAMB staff, must face consequences.
There is also a broader issue of trust. This incident has further eroded public confidence in JAMB as an institution. Many now question whether UTME scores truly reflect merit or are just products of technical roulette.
We must restore trust in our institutions. That begins with transparency, humility, and action. JAMB must go beyond rhetoric. It must show, with visible steps, that it is putting students first.
The National Assembly must also wake up. It should summon JAMB’s leadership, not to trade blame, but to demand accountability and push for reforms. Our lawmakers should visit affected centers, talk to candidates, and understand the scale of the failure firsthand.
Civil society groups, too, must get involved. We cannot leave education solely in the hands of bureaucrats. Parents’ associations, student unions, and advocacy bodies should push for student-friendly reforms.
This UTME crisis is not the first, but it must be the last of its kind. If we ignore it, we send a dangerous message—that young people don’t matter, that their pain is irrelevant, that their future can be gambled with.
Let us not normalize dysfunction. Let us fix the system, empower our students, and make education a national pride again.
Because if we don’t, we may wake up to a nation where the brightest minds give up—not because they lacked intelligence, but because the system failed them again and again.
And that would be the greatest tragedy of all.
