An Open Letter to the JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede: Avoidable Mistake of Last JAMB Questions and the Need for Justice for All the Applicants -By Professor Okike Benjamin

Dear Prof. Oloyede,

I must commend your efforts in continuing with the Computer Based Testing (CBT) adopted by your predecessor Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.

JAMB officially adopted Computer-Based Testing in Nigeria in 2013 to administer the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). While CBT was introduced in 2013, it was made fully compulsory on March 9, 2015. Before May 17, 2014, the UTME was a paper-and-pencil test.

This year’s CBT was not a good experience for some applicants in some centres across the nation in English Language. These applicants were asked to answer some questions based on passages which were not supplied in the examination. Again, the same applicants were short changed as instead of sixty questions only fifty-five were supplied to them. These fifty-five questions include ten questions based on passages that were not supplied during the examination.

I am just wondering how the Board is going to handle this issue to ensure fairness and justice to all the applicants who sat for the examination.  About two million, thirty thousand, two hundred and sixty-seven candidates wrote this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across the centres in Nigeria.  Those applicants already missing fifteen questions due to faults not attributable to them may not compete favorably with others with complete questions in English language. As such, the Board in taking decision should find ways of isolating these applicants. Unfortunately for these applicants, the CBT are marked by computers. Computers, unlike humans may not isolate these applicants to consider them based on the number of questions provided to them.

This open letter is to draw the attention of JAMB Registrar to this unfortunate incidence which took place on 26th day of April, 2025 when some applicants may be denied admissions as result of the above.

Well, I believe that you will treat this matter with the urgency it deserves by assessing all the applicants equally based on the number of questions supplied to the applicants.

Thank you