A dark cloud has settled over Nigeria’s education system following the tragic death of 19-year-old Faith Opesusi Timileyin, who took her life after receiving a disappointing score in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)—an exam that has now been marred by confirmed technical failures.
Faith, an aspiring microbiologist, ingested poison after receiving a score of 146 out of 400, significantly lower than the 193 she obtained in the previous year. Her father, Oluwafemi Opesusi, told BBC Pidgin that the pain of dashed hopes led her to end her life.
“I know my child. The pain made her take her own life,” he said.
The UTME is a mandatory, high-stakes computer-based exam run by Nigeria’s Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Scoring above 200 is generally the minimum threshold for gaining university admission. This year, however, only 400,000 out of 1.9 million candidates crossed that line—one of the lowest success rates recorded in recent memory.
A System in Crisis
What makes this year particularly controversial is the technical glitch admitted by JAMB, which has been linked to the unusually high failure rate. Students across the country reported system crashes, questions not displaying, inability to log in, and power outages at exam centres.
One candidate, Favour Eke, revealed that 10 of her 165 questions never appeared on screen—only the multiple-choice answers did. Others reported logging in to find someone else’s profile or being booted off the system entirely, costing them valuable exam time.
Despite such glaring issues, many of these students—including Favour, who has now sat the UTME three times—are not eligible for a retake, as their centres were not listed among the 157 affected ones.
This raises deep questions: Why weren’t all complaints investigated thoroughly? Why must thousands suffer the consequences of systemic failures they didn’t cause?
Accountability or Empty Apologies?
During a press conference, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede broke down in tears as he apologised for the chaos and heartbreak that followed the exams. He announced that 380,000 candidates from affected centres would be able to resit the exams starting Saturday.
But for families like the Opesusis, the damage is irreversible.
Critics argue that JAMB’s admission of fault, while important, is not enough. Opposition leader Peter Obi called for greater transparency and reform, stating that the issue “raises a very concerning issue on glitches and the grave havoc” in Nigeria’s key institutions.
Activist Rinu Oduala described it as “incompetence” and “educational sabotage,” calling for arrests, not just apologies.
A Call for Justice and Reform
Faith’s death is not just a tragedy—it is an indictment of a failing system. A young woman with dreams, drive, and determination saw her future unravel due to institutional negligence.
Her story must not be buried under bureaucratic statements and delayed retakes. It must be a turning point.
At Above Whispers, we mourn with the Opesusi family and every other household grappling with the mental and emotional toll of a broken educational system. We call on policymakers, educators, and stakeholders to prioritise mental health, infrastructure reform, and above all, accountability.
We owe our young people more than apologies. We owe them a future they can trust.