Joy and JAMB, Tinubu, and Education Loan
8 July 2023 By Abiodun Kareem Giwa

Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme is Nigeria's 19-year-old whose fate recalls indigent children's struggle in Africa's richest. And probably one of the most corrupt countries in the world. She reportedly passed her qualifying examination for placement to the university with flying colors and became a toast with scholarship requests coming her way. Soon, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, stepped into the picture, accusing her of forgery and that she had less number than she claimed. She stood her ground until she was overwhelmed by pressure and agreed to a lesser grade, later credited to her by JAMB.
Joy's case takes observers on a journey of Nigeria's death of innocence and that those who are supposed to help the country are killing it. First, people do incredible work to survive and give their children an education, a staple for survival and transformation from poverty to elitism and the future. On the other hand, the rich have enviable access to learning beyond high school and correspondingly to better jobs. Disadvantaged people want their children to have the same, even if it means mortgaging their homes and life savings. Therefore education is highly competitive among families. Every family wants higher education for their children amid a lack of resources.
Thus, some observers were relieved when the new leader, President Bola Tinubu, admonished them to allow the less advantaged breath. Many believe struggling people in the country have suffocated for too long, and it is not a crime to be not rich and rise to stardom. If they don't abridge your progress for defeating them in examinations, they accuse you of taking their girlfriend, like what Joy fought but succumbed under pressure. And now the news is agog Joy has agreed she forged an excellent result.
First, JAMB said it no longer allowed applicants to print results from its server but left the printing facility on the server intact. Many asked whether Joy created the server or commanded it to exist, but no one answered. Joy said she printed the slip from JAMB's server and did not tamper with any information on the label. Did Joy print the result from JAMb's server or elsewhere? And if JAMB has stopped allowing candidates to publish results from its server, why leave the service unterminated? And there is no proof Joy has hacked JAMB's server.
Secondly, JAMB said it knew people were manipulating its system, citing a case of a young man who sued the examination body but later recanted. Why has JAMB not blocked this access to manipulation? The excuses given by JAMB's spokesman about Joy's message to the examination body on several occasions and that the original name of the person owning the examination result Joy printed from JAMB's server shows JAMB as the culprit and the cause of Joy's predicament, but wrongfully placed the fault on Joy. And JAMB canceled Joy's result and bared her three years from the examination, while the argument over her result slip is inconclusive. Many believe Joy is a victim of JAMB's lack of accountability and corruption.
All roads to progress shut against her at 19 for an alleged forgery. A company that first offered her a scholarship had pulled it. Her story renews Nigeria's corruption culture and destruction. No one is certain whether Joy or JAMB has demonstrated corruption - a cankerworm that, like a cluster bomb, spreads tentacles beyond expectation and catches victims unaware. She is not the first victim of lack of empathy for Nigeria's struggling young people, and will not be the last. It is a case of a large crowd moving in the same direction seeking to gain, pushing and shoving, and stamping those who fall.
A Nigerian, now close to his 70th birthday, ruminates on Joy's headache and remembers how at 19, he was denied admission to a high school by interviewers for lacking proof of the source of school fees and how he was later taken before the school principal by a good Samaritan who pledged to pay his fees. The principal asked the benefactor if he would. He answered Yes. And admission was granted. One year after he was almost flogged to death by a senior tutor for writing a promotion examination as a debtor student. He said he had struggled against multiple odds to advance to the future. Joy is learning firsthand the struggle ahead of her as a young Nigerian from a struggling background. She will advance but with a story to tell. On this note, Tinubu's new education loan, emerging at a time like this, will help move many poor Nigerian kids toward the future. He indeed wants them to breathe.
However, there is a need to remove a guarantor who should be a legal practitioner of 10 years standing as part of the condition of the loan. The Department of Education or the government should be the loan guarantor, as done in civilized countries. You don't give a loan and use the condition to deprive the disadvantaged and allow access to the rich and highly placed. The poor are always killed with a sledgehammer for corruption, while the rich and highly placed in government enjoy their booties unquestioned. The fight against corruption has itself become a victim. You hear of cases announced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, but nothing comes out.
The irony is former leaders live large in wealth they lacked before assuming public office. Some of them have also become political activists seeking to be allowed to choose who leads the country.
Joy's case takes observers on a journey of Nigeria's death of innocence and that those who are supposed to help the country are killing it. First, people do incredible work to survive and give their children an education, a staple for survival and transformation from poverty to elitism and the future. On the other hand, the rich have enviable access to learning beyond high school and correspondingly to better jobs. Disadvantaged people want their children to have the same, even if it means mortgaging their homes and life savings. Therefore education is highly competitive among families. Every family wants higher education for their children amid a lack of resources.
Thus, some observers were relieved when the new leader, President Bola Tinubu, admonished them to allow the less advantaged breath. Many believe struggling people in the country have suffocated for too long, and it is not a crime to be not rich and rise to stardom. If they don't abridge your progress for defeating them in examinations, they accuse you of taking their girlfriend, like what Joy fought but succumbed under pressure. And now the news is agog Joy has agreed she forged an excellent result.
First, JAMB said it no longer allowed applicants to print results from its server but left the printing facility on the server intact. Many asked whether Joy created the server or commanded it to exist, but no one answered. Joy said she printed the slip from JAMB's server and did not tamper with any information on the label. Did Joy print the result from JAMb's server or elsewhere? And if JAMB has stopped allowing candidates to publish results from its server, why leave the service unterminated? And there is no proof Joy has hacked JAMB's server.
Secondly, JAMB said it knew people were manipulating its system, citing a case of a young man who sued the examination body but later recanted. Why has JAMB not blocked this access to manipulation? The excuses given by JAMB's spokesman about Joy's message to the examination body on several occasions and that the original name of the person owning the examination result Joy printed from JAMB's server shows JAMB as the culprit and the cause of Joy's predicament, but wrongfully placed the fault on Joy. And JAMB canceled Joy's result and bared her three years from the examination, while the argument over her result slip is inconclusive. Many believe Joy is a victim of JAMB's lack of accountability and corruption.
All roads to progress shut against her at 19 for an alleged forgery. A company that first offered her a scholarship had pulled it. Her story renews Nigeria's corruption culture and destruction. No one is certain whether Joy or JAMB has demonstrated corruption - a cankerworm that, like a cluster bomb, spreads tentacles beyond expectation and catches victims unaware. She is not the first victim of lack of empathy for Nigeria's struggling young people, and will not be the last. It is a case of a large crowd moving in the same direction seeking to gain, pushing and shoving, and stamping those who fall.
A Nigerian, now close to his 70th birthday, ruminates on Joy's headache and remembers how at 19, he was denied admission to a high school by interviewers for lacking proof of the source of school fees and how he was later taken before the school principal by a good Samaritan who pledged to pay his fees. The principal asked the benefactor if he would. He answered Yes. And admission was granted. One year after he was almost flogged to death by a senior tutor for writing a promotion examination as a debtor student. He said he had struggled against multiple odds to advance to the future. Joy is learning firsthand the struggle ahead of her as a young Nigerian from a struggling background. She will advance but with a story to tell. On this note, Tinubu's new education loan, emerging at a time like this, will help move many poor Nigerian kids toward the future. He indeed wants them to breathe.
However, there is a need to remove a guarantor who should be a legal practitioner of 10 years standing as part of the condition of the loan. The Department of Education or the government should be the loan guarantor, as done in civilized countries. You don't give a loan and use the condition to deprive the disadvantaged and allow access to the rich and highly placed. The poor are always killed with a sledgehammer for corruption, while the rich and highly placed in government enjoy their booties unquestioned. The fight against corruption has itself become a victim. You hear of cases announced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, but nothing comes out.
The irony is former leaders live large in wealth they lacked before assuming public office. Some of them have also become political activists seeking to be allowed to choose who leads the country.
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