Opinion: Dear Macbeth, JAMB’s Tribalism has Murdered Sleep.

Trust! Once betrayed, it can rarely ever be amended.

Oh, how true these words are at an hour such as this — that the masquerade of national bigotry, previously rumoured to dance only in the dark, has now been unclad in Nigeria’s foremost exam institution.

The signs have been there: from WAEC deleting a tweet affirming Peter Obi’s success in education in Anambra, to JAMB recently vehemently attacking Peter Obi for speaking up for children, to INEC liking or even retweeting a politically partisan post from a Tinubu supporter.

It is now true and absolutely clear that the Nigerian state is running an anti-Igbo system, ranging from military sabotage to political sabotage, economic sabotage, and now academic sabotage. Why do you harbour such deep hatred for an entire ethnic group simply because their son dared to aspire to national leadership? And yet, you refuse to let them leave. Were the deaths of millions of Igbos during the unnecessary civil war not enough?

Let us assume, without conceding, that politically entrenched tribalism is not at play. How do you explain that out of 36 states, the five Southeastern states are the primary casualties? Can the audit, in good faith, show that the affected LGAs in Lagos are not the Igbo-dominated areas?

Even more damning is the calculated cover-up by JAMB. According to the audit, the board was already aware, after the 17th session, that hundreds of thousands of candidates had been affected by widespread technical glitches and systemic failures. Yet, they released results, knowingly excluding over 400,000 innocent students from fairness and due process. This isn’t just a mistake. It is a betrayal of public trust. A betrayal of children. A betrayal of a nation.

JAMB’s cover-up and the attempt by the Minister of Education to defend it while gagging dissenting voices, JAMB’s emotionless tweet, Oloyede’s performative tears on national TV, and the sycophantic absolution offered by LASU and UNILORIN to shield JAMB and its registrar from accountability; all these culminate in a slap-in-the-face demand for a 48-hour resit for innocent candidates. This is not just poor administration. This is a deliberate insult layered over injustice.

There must be consequences for this insanity, far-reaching consequences. The response must be swift and decisive. Trust has been broken. We no longer have the confidence to allow our children, relatives, and friends to undergo the torturous psychological ordeal administered by JAMB. No child can henceforth write a JAMB examination with confidence. JAMB must be scrapped. Its officials, up to the top, must go to jail. Consultations must be held with affected families and stakeholders, and geared towards adequate compensation. A 48-hour resit will not stand. We cannot continue to run a society without consequences, where the populace is constantly forced to forgive wickedness and move on. The psychological trauma inflicted on young minds will outlast any resit. Who takes responsibility for the scarred confidence of an entire generation?

Nigerian parents must unitedly refuse to accede and must boycott this resit. We must all insist on consequences, including the end of JAMB. The money-making industry must end. If the people do not want it, it must end. Oloyede cannot take responsibility only through words, tears, and rhetoric. We cannot continue to live in a nation where injustice is buried under platitudes, where officials cry crocodile tears. In contrast, children cry themselves to sleep, where failure at the top is followed by punishment for the weak.

Was Mmesoma truly guilty? Why did JAMB ban her for three years?

Let it be heard: JAMB has murdered sleep, and it shall sleep no more.

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Winston Adaete

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