• CBT cannot succeed without internet, says lawmaker
• Silence of South-East govs, commissioners worrisome, say CSOs, concerned citizens
Women groups, Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), in collaboration with South-East Human Right Civil Society Situation Room (SHRCSSR), South-East Women’s Network (SEWNET), and 50/50 Action Women Group, took to the street yesterday to protest against the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result released by the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB), demanding total cancellation.
The women defied the rain to protest what they described as JAMB’s calculated effort to diminish the South-East zone despite the zone’s performance in the just-released National Examination Council (NECO) result, in which the region came first.
Caring placards with inscriptions such as ” Enough is enough, “We want total cancellation”, “Our children have been thrown into emotional turmoil”, and other inscriptions, the women marched through streets ending at the state JAMB office.
Speaking, the Project Manager, WACOL, Helen Kalu, said that JAMB should go back to the old method of writing, noting that the Computer Based Test (CBT) cannot work without a network.
She added that most of the students live in the village where there is no network, and many have no access to a computer, stressing that the timing of the examination is bad.
She also stated that there are some staff in the JAMB office who were involved in this process, and they should be brought to justice, stressing that the result should be cancelled.
Similarly, the federal lawmaker representing Ikwo/Ezza South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Chinedu Ogah, has raised his voice against plans by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to make the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) computer-based from 2026.
Ogah stated this during an interview in Abakaliki. The federal lawmaker, who observed that most students in the hinterland, especially in areas where there is no network, are not acquainted with the use of the computer, urged the Federal Government to first institutionalise Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in primary and secondary schools.
MEANWHILE, the coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and concerned citizens have decried the silence of the South-East governors and their commissioners of education over the recent controversy that trailed the 2025 UTME results.
The JAMB leadership recently admitted and took responsibility for the widespread irregularities and apparent systemic failures that marred the examination in the South-East and some areas in Lagos State. Several Nigerians had also risen in condemnation of the development, leading to the Board calling for a resit.
But in a three-page statement released in Enugu yesterday, 17 CSOs and 12 concerned citizens expressed worry in what they described as the “conspicuous silence from the executive arm of South-East governments.
The statement titled: “The Silence that Speaks Volumes: South-East Governors and Commissioners of Education, Your Constituents Demand Your Voice on the JAMB Crisis,” expressed disappointment with the authorities on the development.
