The Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) has
decried the capacity for and
the desperation of some people or groups to engage in mischief for
achieving narrow and selfish interests through recourse to falsehoods and half-truths.
This is in reaction by the Board to the highly-misleading and widely-circulated social media publication being bandied around that one Atung Gerald with a score of 380 is the highest scorer in the 2023 UTME.
Nothing, the Board noted, could be
further from the truth.
The Board also expressed dismay at the level in which poorly-researched and very sensitive issues are being circulated in the public space even by people who should know better.
For instance, a careful study of the
so-called UTME registration number of the said candidate would have shown that the people or groups pushing this fake narrative are patent carriers of fake news as the registration number could readily be seen that it is a non-existence registration number given its false features.
Given the foregoing, the Board
urges all to always cross-check their facts before going public as a
particular supposedly ‘hot’ news
the item might turn to be red herring.
The Board also noted that the so-
called reward expected to be
handed over to the owner of the
the phantom score is nothing but a
a figment of the fecund imagination of the writer as it had never for any
reason directly rewarded or
recognized any highest-scoring or
lowest-scoring candidate.
This is, however, not to say that, the
Board, in the course of conversations at some strategic events, has not had a cause, at times, to release its ten highest UTME scorers to buttress some salient points, especially when issues of what constitutes highest scores which included candidates
O’level and institution screening
scores are explained.
Such had never been about directly honouring. It would be recalled that a decade ago, Cowbell had instituted an award for the highest scorers, as noble as that policy was, it was to all intents and purposes, a private or rewarding such candidate.
Therefore, the Board finds it rather
Unfortunately, some obscure writers bring up random names of people from certain parts of the country just to create negative impressions in the minds of those who might not know.
As such, to set the records straight,
the Board disclosed that it had, no
record of any candidate who scored 380.
The Board, as a responsive agency,
will continue to be guided by the
spirit of patriotism as it consciously takes those steps aimed at upholding national ethics and values while implementing those policies aimed at checking abuses and protecting the rights of Nigerians.
Hence, the Board will continue to strive to give the nation its best and would not be deterred by those who do not wish her well.
