July 09, (THEWILL) – The immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has urged Nigerians to exercise caution over attacks on Miss Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme, who was indicted of manipulating her UTME result.
Miss Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School in Nnewi, Anambra State, had claimed to be the top scorer in the 2023 UTME with 362.
The ‘feat’ fetched her accolades from Nigerians on social media including the Anambra State Government.
Innocent Chukwuma, the founder of Innoson company, would later award the candidate a N3 million scholarship.
But JAMB accused the candidate of manipulating her UTME results and inflating the scores from 249 to 362. The candidate, however, insisted that the 362 was the score she received both on the JAMB website and in the SMS sent to her by the board.
The examination body subsequently announced it would withdraw the candidate’s original UTME result and barred her from taking the test for the next three years.
But Miss Mmesoma, the candidate, in a viral video on Monday, insisted that the controversial score of 362 claimed by her was printed from the JAMB website and the examination body’s accusation had left her traumatised.
Several Nigerians called for an “independent” investigation into the controversy.
Consequently, the Anambra State Government, last week, set up a panel of inquiry into the controversy.
Headed by Nkemdili Nnonyelu, a professor, the eight-member panel, on Friday, confirmed Miss Mmesoma forged the score of 362 as earlier claimed by the JAMB.
According to the eight-page report, a copy of which was obtained by DIPLOMATIC DIARY, the candidate confirmed she single-handedly forged the result before approaching a cyber cafe for printing.
Reacting to the development, Keyamo, in a statement issued via his verified Twitter handle, said Mmesoma needs counselling to restore her than the attacks and condemnation currently trailing her action.
The statement reads: “I deliberately waited for the end of this investigation before commenting on this unfortunate case of our daughter, Mmesoma Ejikeme.
“She’s a brilliant girl, judging by her actual score of 249. The nation should be careful not to destroy her. What she needs is counselling, correction and guidance. She obviously did not know the weight and gravity of what she was doing. As teenagers, most of us made juvenile mistakes that never came to light.
“The parents should encourage her to do a public apology to JAMB, to her family and to Nigerians after which she should be allowed to get her admission based on her actual scores. Anyone still pushing other narratives over this issue is not helping her and her family.
“It is time to close this very unfortunate chapter and move on. This is my plea.”
