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“This is not the type of student you expel. His records, as presented by the principal, show that he has a bright future and expelling him can destroy such a bright future. The fact that he did not deny responsibility also shows character on his part. This aspect of today’s discussion should also be expunged from the minutes of the meeting. We don’t want to keep any negative record about a student the school authority said had won many laurels for the school in debate and quiz competitions.” That was the verdict of the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Araromi High School, Araromi Ekiti (now Odo Oro High School, Odo Oro Ekiti), in 1986. Yours sincerely was the student at the centre of the episode in question. I read the report in its raw form because my late cousin and mentor, Ayegbusi Idowu Rufus Akanni, was the school librarian and secretary that took the minutes of that meeting. An administrator par excellence, the late Olu Daramola, whom we all called Daddy Daramola, was the chairman of the Board. He was the first registrar of the University of Ilorin from 1976 to 1986.
I was involved in an incident. The punishment for such an infraction was outright expulsion. But Daddy Daramola chose to rescue my academic career. Providence spoke for me, and I was allowed to write the final examination, the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE), in peace. Only God knows what would have happened if the Board of Governors had stood by the rules. Whatever I made of my educational pursuits today, I owe God Almighty, the late Daddy Daramola, my late cousin, Brother Idowu, and another of my mentors, Brother Omotayo Ajewole, a.k.a. Commissioner, eternal gratitude. The last duo worked behind the scenes, tirelessly, to secure a soft-landing verdict of “Let the student come and write his examinations from home” before Providence spoke and I was completely pardoned! The biggest lesson of the entire episode is that when the fire to roast the snake is set at the length of the snake, some other precious items get burnt in the process. Discretion is the ultimate drive of administration. What offence did I commit to warrant expulsion? Do I have to tell you that, dear readers? Needless to say, that it had nothing to do with stealing or any other related crime. It was just one of those things boys do. Let us leave it at that, at least, for now. It may, however, interest you to note that I graduated from the same secondary school as the Senior Prefect (Boy) and the “Best Mannered Student” of my set. I won the maiden edition of “Igba Iwa” (Calabash of Manners) award instituted by one of our leaders, Joseph Makanjuola Jegede. Yet, at one time, I stood the risk of outright expulsion!
My mind did a dash to my 1986 experience when I read the punitive measures the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), meted out to Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme, a 19-year-old student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, Anambra State, who forged her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result. Until the unfortunate incident, Mmesoma was a child any parent would want to have. And even now, she is still a child of delight to any parent, given her past records. When one’s masquerade dances well at the village square, one cannot but be proud. Her father, Romanus Ejikeme, was naturally proud of his daughter. Who is that man who will not be happy for a child who came top of a national examination like the UTME? Mmesoma came home with the ‘highest’ score of 362 in the examination. The father wasted no time in calling the neighbours to join him in celebration. Mmesoma forgot the traditional meaning of his father’s name, Ejikeme. That is a deep Igbo name which tells us that no one makes anything happen by personal efforts. And that is exactly what the 19-year-old did. Her father’s name says, “Not by force”; the little girl said a little effort would not be a bad idea. Now, she is in a mess and that rubs off on her father too. At that age, the girl decided to do what the oracle did not do for her. She took the UTME examinations and passed. But not satisfied with her score of 249, she upped the ante by increasing the tally by additional 113 marks to arrive at 362. I don’t know who told her that when one’s divination is negative, one should use his own hands to turn it positive. The counsellor must have failed to tell her that such a voyage comes with consequences. The Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, demonstrated such a folly in the voyage of Akaraoogun in that Allegory known as “Forest of Thousand Daemons”.
With the fake score and the information that another UTME candidate, Umeh Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere, a fellow Anambrarian and student of Deeper Life High School, Mowe, Ogun State, who scored 360, was declared the highest scorer and was to be honoured by the Anambra State Government, Mmesoma and her innocent father headed for the Ministry of Education to ‘claim’ her ‘rightful’ position. Many people have said the father should be blamed. I beg to disagree. Records by Mmesoma’s schools from primary to secondary show that she has always been at the top of her class. Merely watching her in the video where she was defending her scores tells one that Mmesoma is intelligent and brilliant. Why won’t the father believe her? How many fathers go to check their children’s results on the JAMB portal? The journey to the ministry was the beginning of her ordeal. The ministry officials put a call across to JAMB for clarifications. JAMB promptly responded by declaring Mmesoma’s result fake. Hell was let loose. The little girl would not have any of that. Many others joined her in the fight to reclaim her ‘right’. Ethnicity and religion came into the fray. The social media ‘human rights fighters’, who elected to fight JAMB claimed that Mmesoma was being “victimised” because of her ethnicity. It never mattered to them that the candidate recognised by JAMB is not only of the same ethnic group as Mmesoma, but from the same Anambra State and a Christian by faith. Many remembered the February 25 and March 15, 2023, general election and concluded that what was happening to their “highest UTME scorer” was a continuation of the animosity of the elections. I have said it several times: what the last elections will cost this nation is pregnant and at the same time nursing a baby. No thanks to the lethargic General Muhammadu Buhari who ensured that the nation was fatally polarised in his eight years of misrule. It will take time for the wounds to heal, while the scars will continue to stare us in the face.
Mmesoma’s action is no doubt condemnable. And I condemn it in totality. A lot of prominent Nigerians have also condemned her. A former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, while expressing dissatisfaction with the findings of the panel set up by the Anambra State government, however, upheld the sanctions imposed on Mmesoma by JAMB, saying: “I, therefore, support the sanctions imposed by JAMB as a deterrent to all who participate in the systemic exam malpractices within our educational system.” Ezekwesili must be pained, like every other rational Nigerian, that Mmesoma almost successfully gaslighted the entire country with her tales. JAMB, I must also admit, has the right to defend its integrity and, in doing so, it would be right to impose any sanction it deems fit and appropriate on any erring candidate. Mmesoma definitely cannot be an exception.
But I have a slightly different opinion about the whole issue. Denying Mmesoma admission based on her 249 scores and banning her for another two years from writing another examination, to me, will not serve any useful purpose.
I want to draw inspiration from the saying that it is not profitable to leave a recalcitrant child for the tiger to devour. Yes, the little girl has erred. Yes, she lied to every one of us and almost started another ‘civil war’ on social media. I think she needs psychological therapy more than the harsh sanctions imposed on her. This girl is already 19 years old. At that age, she already knew how to fake a result to almost perfection. Asking her to stay at home for the next three years will amount to throwing her to the hawks. And there are many predators outside waiting to devour her. From the promise of “overseas study” to sponsorship, how many of such promises do we know to be fake? How many are altruistic? Has it occurred to us that a cradle snatcher waiting in the wings can easily make prey of Mmesoma before she completes her three-year probation? If such a thing happens, who loses? The little girl has a long life ahead of her. We have a responsibility as a people to help her rediscover her potential and become a useful member of our society. Mmesoma needs rehabilitation more than the sanction. Her case, as novel as it appears, should get us thinking about how to handle ‘special’ children like her. How about fixing her in a university based on her 249 grade and then placing her under close monitoring? She can be counselled and mentored to become a role model for her era. Her case has become like that of the tsetse fly, which chooses to perch on a man’s scrotum. Our elders advise that we should be cautious when killing such. Whatever sanction the authorities may want to impose on her should not be a deterrent alone; it should be corrective and rehabilitative. Asking her to be on probation for three years is
nothing but killing an ordinary fly with a sledgehammer. This is one of the reasons why ex-convicts come out of our prison yards more notorious.
I have no doubt that Mmesoma is sober now that she has seen the folly of her actions. She has apologised and likewise her father, Ejikeme. She deserves our mercy. This was exactly the position of the former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, who wrote on his Twitter handle: “A child her age deserves a second chance after she shows remorse and demonstrates that she has learned the value of integrity.”
I would like to leave Mmesoma with the eternal words of John Calvin Maxwell, an American author and preacher of the Gospel, who admonishes thus: “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” This is what we should all ask Mmesoma to do. I wonder what would have become of my life if Daddy Daramola had not used his discretion judiciously in 1986. May the good Lord lead Mmesoma to the path of integrity and honesty in her future engagements.
