A former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has reacted to the Investigative panel report confirming that Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma falsified her United Tertiary Matriculation Exam, UTME result.
He said the nation should be careful not to destroy the young girl’s life simply because she made a juvenile mistake.
The panel setup by Anambra State Government indicted 19-year-old Mmesoma, saying that she forged the result without help from anybody.
The panel report reads in part; “That Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma tenders an unreserved written apology to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the School (Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu Nnewi) and the Anambra State Government.
“This should be done immediately. EJikeme Joy Mmesoma should undergo psychological counselling and therapy. All prospective candidates for JAMB should adhere strictly to guidelines, processes and procedures of the examination body”.
Reacting to the development via Twitter, Keyamo admitted that the student is a brilliant girl going her real score of 249. He added that Mmesoma probably did not know the gravity of her actions hence why she needs to be taken for counselling.
He also urged the teenager to show remorse and tender an apology to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Keyamo said; “I deliberately waited for the end of this investigation before commenting on this unfortunate case of our daughter, Mmesoma Ejikeme.
She’s a brilliant girl, judging by her actual score of 249. The nation should be careful not to destroy her. What she needs is counselling, correction and guidance. She obviously did not know the weight and gravity of what she was doing. As teenagers, most of us made juvenile mistakes that never came to light.
The parents should encourage her to do a public apology to JAMB, to her family and to Nigerians after which she should be allowed to get her admission based on her actual scores. Anyone still pushing other narratives over this issue is not helping her and her family. It is time to close this very unfortunate chapter and move on. This is my plea.”
