The South East Senate Caucus on Saturday described recent claims by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) of a glitch in its operations in examination centres in the Southeast region, as “curious and highly suspicious.”
It said it is struggling not to assume the presence of a deliberate plot against the future of children in the area.
JAMB said the glitch affected 206,610 candidates across 65 centres in Lagos State and 173,387 candidates in 92 centres across South East states.
According to the exam body, while 54.37 per cent of candidates affected are in Lagos state, the remaining 45.63 per cent are spread across Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu states.
But the southeast caucus in the statement by its chairman, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, said it would be disheartening and hopes not to contemplate such conspiracy theory, “that there is a narrow agenda being pursued to deliberately shortchange and harm the future of our children”.
The statement explained that “after a careful assessment of the reports of the ugly incident, noted with cautious optimism the efforts being made to mitigate the near disaster, particularly the rescheduling of the examination, but warned that a future recurrence will be unacceptable.”
According to the statement, the caucus welcomed the timely acceptance of fault as expressed through the open declaration of regrets and tearful apology by JAMBmanagement, particularly, its Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede.
This is as it warned against Professor Oloyede`s open display of regret, hoping it is not an effort to mask a future sinister agenda aimed at harming the educational advancement of children of the SouthEast region.
“The so-called glitch as curious and suspicious as it were is enough to erode confidence and dangerously lower national pride among the future generation.
“The relevant national education drivers must recognise the inherent danger of injecting hateful politics and narrow parochial consideration in both policy enunciation and its implementations.
“That the glitch happened in the whole of South East raises partinent questions that must be answered by JAMB to assuage the growing frustrations and fears among the people of the region particularly the children who are directly at the receiving end. We must pursue a Nigerian agenda and not a narrow one that will ultimately injure national unity
“Education remains one of the most important bedrocks of any society’s advancement. It is one major indices of development in every facet of life that can never be faulted. Education is a major pivot that triggers national development. Every child is entitled to it, therefore we must not play roulette with it? Abaribe declares.
Therefore, he said the South East Senate Caucus is at alert and under pressure as it unequivocally demands firm assurance from JAMB and other relevant national educational policy drivers that there will never be a reoccurrence of such scandalous glitch in the future.
