As the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) enters its third day, the conduct of the examination continues to be marred by delays and technical failures.
Parents and candidates have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over the progress of the examination, one incident of which led to a violent demonstration by candidates at an ICT centre in Oyo State.
A concerned parent, Saheed Timilehin, recounted how what was meant to be a one-day examination for his daughter turned into two days of back-and-forth at the examination centre, without any official addressing the situation.
Parent laments delay, poor communication
Timilehin left home with his daughter as early as 4:00 a.m. on Thursday to meet up with the 6:30 a.m. schedule for her UTME. Shockingly, by 5:00 p.m., the candidates were still at the centre and the examination had not been held.
In his narration, he said it took the intervention of agitated parents, who had been waiting since morning, to ask the children to go home and return by 11:00 a.m. today (Friday) to write the exam.
Timilehin’s daughter was posted by JAMB to Vera Grace Group of Schools at Ilogbo Elegba legba in Ojo LGA of Lagos State.
“Upon arrival at the centre today, we were told that the time has been changed to 4:00 p.m. We have been here since 3:00 p.m and till now at past 7:00 p.m, they have not started the exam.
“As I am typing this message, I am at the centre. Our kids have not been released to us and the exam has not commenced,” Timilehin narrated with displeasure.
The prolonged delay and poor communication have left questions in the minds of frustrated parents and candidates, who are calling for an end to what Timilehin described as “dehumanising” conduct.
“The most annoying thing is that since yesterday, no official of the centre has deemed it fit to address us about what is happening,” he said.
“Honestly, this is dehumanising. The whole of yesterday and today have been snatched from us. Will they add tomorrow to it? Please, how can we reach JAMB’s upper echelon?” Timilehin queried.
Angry candidates vandalise facilities at CBT centre
Frustrated by prolonged delay due to technical glitches, some candidates sitting the ongoing UTME resorted to violence after discovering that the computers to be used for their examination were not working.
The aggrieved students in a viral video on TikTok and X, on Friday, were seen smashing chairs to express their anger.
The videos suggested that the candidates became furious when they found out that the computer systems at the centre had failed and the examination could not be held.
The Abimbola Excel School ICT Centre is located at 1, Oke Elesin Bus Stop, along Akanran road, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria,
The video posted on X by a user simply identified as Chuks showed the violent act of the candidates.
According to the X post, which had garnered 997 reposts and 630 views at the time of filing this report, “Students who wrote JAMB today destrøyed chairs at the centre after their systems failed to work during the exam,”
Also, Ola Pablo posted a similar video on Tiktok which at the time of filing this report had garnered 83 comments and 403 shares. He wrote, “No exam was done at Abimbola Excel CBT centre today.”
However, when contacted to react to the vandalisation video in circulation, the Public Communications Advisor (PCA) of JAMB, Fabian Benjamin said that he was not aware of the incident.
Mixed reactions greet candidates’ reaction
While some netizens condemned the actions of the violent candidates and urged JAMB to discipline them appropriately, others pointed fingers at JAMB, saying the exam body wasn’t entirely blameless either.
An X user identified as KC posted, “JAMB should make sure they all get at least a three-year ban. We can’t run a lawless society.”
Reacting, another user, Victor Paul, explained that his student had a similar experience two years ago, accusing JAMB of doing nothing about the situation despite correspondents.
He wrote, “Like Fr Fr … I’m as much as I don’t support violence name one good thing in this country that was achieved on the back of a peaceful dialogue? As a tutor, my student suffered this same fate a few years ago, nothing was done despite mails sent. He had to wait one year to get into school”
Similarly, another user identified as Ariels faulted the school for accepting to host JAMB with inadequate facilities.
Ariels said: “If the school was incapacitated, why did JAMB accept to host the UTME? “Do you know how many kilometres or miles those students travelled to have those exams? “it will teach the school a lesson to put their systems in order, instead of wasting and delaying the future of our children.”
Reacting to the TikTok post, a user criticised the candidates for the destruction. The user identified as Olusegun posted, “Which child properly raised will do this? ”
Candidate defends JAMB, says centre had been cancelled
In a different turn of events, a netizen who appears to be a candidate at the centre explained in a TikTok video that the examination centre had been cancelled.
The TikToker, identified as Bukola (@Bukola), stated that the examination body had communicated with the candidates posted to the centre prior to the examination, informing them that the ICT Centre had been cancelled and advising candidates to keep checking for updates.
She wrote, “JAMB had posted earlier that the center was cancelled. So it asked candidates to recheck their centres, but you won’t but focus on tiktok instead of checking JAMB update.”