By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has called for the abolition of several Nigerian agencies, including the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). He criticized these organizations as inefficient and unnecessary, referring to them as “bureaucratic busybodies.”
Sowore’s remarks were made on Wednesday via his official X account, following a statement from JAMB that technical issues had negatively impacted the results of some candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
He wrote: “It’s time to scrap these bureaucratic busybodies—JAMB, NYSC, TETFund, NELFUND—they’re all useless.”
This criticism followed JAMB’s admission of serious flaws in its recent examination process, including malfunctioning computers and errors in processing exam results, which sparked public outcry from candidates and parents across the country.
Sowore’s comments highlight growing dissatisfaction with Nigeria’s educational and youth development bodies, which have faced long-standing criticisms over issues of inefficiency, corruption, and an inability to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
JAMB had previously announced that nearly 380,000 candidates in Lagos and the South-East states would need to resit their exams due to the technical glitches.
At a press conference in Abuja, JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, addressed the issue, acknowledging that the technical errors during the UTME had affected several candidates’ results. He confirmed that a new examination would be scheduled for those impacted, set to take place this weekend.
Oloyede expressed regret over the situation, offering an emotional apology and accepting full responsibility for the failures. He explained that 65 centers in Lagos, with 206,610 candidates, and 92 centers in the South-East, with 173,387 candidates, had been affected by the issues.
The JAMB Registrar also revealed that technical staff from the service provider assigned to the Lagos and South-East zones had failed to update delivery servers, further compounding the problem. Apologizing for the error, Oloyede assured Nigerians that he took full responsibility for both the mistake and the distress it caused to those affected.
