Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
A coalition of women’s groups in Anambra State, Tuesday, staged a protest to demand urgent action and systemic reforms in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) admission process.
The protest was led by Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL), in collaboration with other non-governmental organisations, including Southeast Human Rights Civil Society Situation Room, Southeast Women’s Network( SEWNET), and 50/50 Action Women Group.
The protesters, dressed in black, marched to the JAMB office, citing irregularities and controversies in the recently concluded 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
They also carried placards with inscriptions such as: “WACOL stands for students rights” “Stop sabotaging South-East students’ future,” and “We demand fairness in UTME for all regions.
During the protest, the women renewed the call for a thorough and urgent audit of the JAMB system to unravel the cause of the systemic failure in the 2025 UTME especially as it concerns the South-Eastern states and Lagos State.
The protest letter read by Ifeyinwa Ofodile-Nwafor, WACOL Anambra’s Legal Officer, called for an audit of the activities of the Board in the past five years.
It also advocated tangible and urgent measures by South-East state governments to forestall future occurrences.
The protesters also called for a thorough investigation of the persons responsible for the alleged glitch in JAMB office.
They want officials found culpable to face appropriate penalties while their punishments are made public in the interest of accountability.
“We are equally asking for the reorientation of the personnel at the helm of affairs at the Board with the aim of making them detribalized in such sensitive matters of national importance.
“We solicit an atmosphere of equality in all the regions of the country without any form of discrimination against any region at all.”
The protesters also called for a conducive atmosphere for students in future exams without subjecting them to emotional and psychological trauma.
“We also strongly call for an unreserved apology to the students who sat for this year’s UTME for the unnecessary trauma caused them by the failure of JAMB and its system.”
Responding, the JAMB Coordinator in Anambra State Jema Iheme, explained that JAMB is resolutely committed to its core values of service and integrity.
“Following the setback, the Board quickly rescheduled the exam, which they did Friday last week, Saturday. Here, we even conducted on Sunday.
“We did it quickly because WAEC is on now and NECO is coming next. So, there is no better alternative than to reschedule it quickly.
“We have 33 centers in Anambra and each center had four sessions on Friday and Saturday with each session comprising of 200 to 250 candidates.
“Nnewi had five sessions because they had more population than other ones. Here in our office, we conducted same examination for 15 persons who gave reasons for failing to take part in the sections on Friday and Saturday.
“We doubled their transport fare and paid all of them for the inconveniences. I can assure you that such error will not occur again.”
