A Plea for Safety: JAMB Must Stop Posting Candidates to Danger –By Muhammad Bashir Abdulhafiz

I am a young Nigerian who still believes in this country. But today, I write to you with a heavy heart, yet with hope that those in authority will hear the cries of millions of students whose futures depends on education. Our northern region is bleeding. Every day, we hear of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency. And in the middle of this chaos are our young students, innocent boys and girls who only want to write an exam and go to university.

Professor Ishaq Oyedele, the rising tide of terrorism, kidnapping, insurgency, and general insecurity in northern Nigeria has turned what should be a right—’education’—into a life threatening gamble. For many young Nigerians in states like Borno, Yobe, Plateau, Adamawa, Kaduna, Zamfara, and others, the dream of sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is now shadowed by fear. Not fear of failure, but fear of bullets, bombs, and abductions.

Every day, we hear stories of students abducted from schools, travellers taken on highways, and communities thrown into chaos by bandits and insurgents. Yet, JAMB’s posting system sometimes sends candidates to centres far from their homes, in unfamiliar territories where danger lurks. Imagine a mother waking up at 3 am to prepare her daughter for an exam. The girl must travel 50 kilometres through a forest where kidnappers wait. She has no choice if she misses the exam, she loses a whole year. That is not an exam. That is a death sentence. A young girl from a relatively calm local government may be posted to a centre in a hotbed of insurgency. A boy whose family cannot afford private transportation may have to walk or board unsafe public vehicles through kidnapping corridors. These are not hypothetical risks. They are daily headlines.

We cannot pretend anymore. In states like Borno, Plateau, Yobe, Adamawa, Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto, no road is fully safe. Schools have been closed for months. Villages are attacked regularly. Children are kidnapped from their classrooms. And yet, JAMB sometimes posts a student from a peaceful village to a centre in a town where gunmen operate freely.

Sir, no student should have to choose between their future and their life. I’m humbly urging and I am pleading with you: Please adopt a new policy by posting every JAMB candidate to the nearest possible exam centre that has been verified as calm and safe. Do not send them into the mouth of danger. This means, our request is simple and reasonable. JAMB should:

First, identify all exam centres located in high risk areas. Work with the police, the army, local hunters, and local vigilantes to identify high risk areas. No candidate should be posted to any centre within or near active conflict zones. Mark these centres as ‘unsafe’.

Second, post every candidate from a dangerous area to the nearest centre that security agencies confirm as safe. Even if that centre is in another local government or state. Distance is better than death. And when a candidate’s nearest centre is unsafe, the next safest and closest centre must be used, even if it crosses state lines. A student’s life is more important than administrative convenience

Third, create an emergency help desk for candidates who feel their posted centre is unsafe. Let them apply for a transfer without punishment or extra fees. Before registration closes, JAMB should also release a public list of exam towns confirmed secure. Candidates can then choose from among them, with guidance from their parents, schools and local authorities.

Fourth, publish a public map of ‘safe exam zones’ before registration begins. Let parents and students see where they will be posted. Let them make informed decisions. For candidates already posted to dangerous areas, allow a simple, free, and fast process to change centres without delay.

Advice to Those in Authority.
Professor Oyedele cannot solve northern insecurity alone. So I also speak to our leaders at all level:
To the Federal Government: Secure our schools and exam centres like you would secure a government house. Deploy special forces, surveillance drones, and rapid response teams to every major town hosting JAMB during exam week. Secure exam corridors. Use drones to monitor high risk routes, and make it clear that attacking students is an attack on Nigeria’s future. Education is a right, not a privilege for those who can dodge bullets.

To State Governors in the North: Invest in community policing and intelligence gathering. Most kidnappers are not ghosts, they are known to locals. Empower traditional rulers, local hunters, and vigilantes legally and logistically. A safe exam centre begins with a safe community. And, a safe community produces safe exam candidates. Please stop sharing security votes without results.

To the National Assembly: Pass and enforce laws that make attacks on students and exam centres a treasonable offence, with swift, severe consequences. Make it a Federal offensce to disrupt national exam. Also, allocate a specific security budget for exam periods, and create a special victim fund for any student harmed on their way to an exam centre.

To the Military and Police: Change your mindset. A student walking to an exam centre is not a target for extortion or harassment. Protect them. Clear major roads leading to centres at least one week before UTME. Set up temporary checkpoints that prevent rather than intimidate.

To Traditional Rulers: Use your local intelligence. Report strangers and suspicious movements to security agencies before they strike. Protect every child in your domain as if they were your own.

To Parents and Students: Do not suffer in silence. If JAMB posts you to a dangerous centre, speak up through social media, civil society groups, and your local government chairman. Your voice can save many lives. Do not let fear silence your ambition. Apply for your UTME. Study hard. But also raise your voices peacefully. Use social media, community meetings, and letters to demand safety. Your life matters more than any score. Do not risk your life for an exam. Know this, your education is everything, and it is the only weapon against poverty and extremism.

Professor Oyedele, we are losing a generation. Many bright northern children are already dropping out of school because their parents are too afraid to let them travel for exams. Others are being recruited by bandits out of hopelessness. If JAMB continues to post candidates into danger, we are telling these young people: ‘Your education is not important enough to protect’.

Sir, history will not remember your exam statistics. It will remember whether you acted when children were crying for help. History will also remember you not just for how many candidates you registered, but for how many you kept alive. You have the power to change and save lives by a simple, and a life saving policy: Post candidates to the nearest calm and safe centre. Not the nearest centre on paper. The nearest centre that a child can reach without fear of kidnapping or death. Please, do not wait for a tragedy where dozens of students are massacred on their way to a JAMB centre before you act. Be proactive. Be courageous. Put the safety of Nigerian children above everything. Please, do this for us. Do this for the mothers who pray all night. Do this for the future of northern Nigeria.

God bless you, Professor Oyedele.
God bless the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Muhammad Bashir Abdulhafiz wrote from Jos, and can be reached via abdulhafizmuhammad81@gmail.com instantly.