Nigerians Drop Bombshell After JAMB Registrar Bursts Into Tears Over 2025 UTME Errors

• JAMB Registrar Ishaq Oloyede broke down in tears admitting errors in the 2025 UTME, sparking public outrage and demands for his resignation
• Nigerians praised transparency but criticised mandatory re-exams and called for system reforms to prevent future failures
• Many condemned applause during the apology as insensitive, emphasising the serious impact on students’ futures

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, recently broke down in tears while admitting errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) that affected thousands of candidates.

The emotional apology has triggered a storm of reactions from Nigerians, many demanding accountability and systemic reform.

Tears met with anger and calls for resignation

Despite Oloyede’s display of emotion, many Nigerians dismissed his tears as insufficient. Social media users expressed frustration, insisting that the registrar’s resignation is the minimum expected response.

One user wrote, “His crocodile tears do not address the pain caused by these egregious errors. His immediate resignation is the least he can do right now. JAMB’s failures highlight a systemic issue that cannot be ignored. It’s time for real change.” (@Opeyemtech)

Another lamented,

“Take your crocodile tears away from my screen. Resign today. These tears won’t bring back that little girl who took her life.” (@emperorik4ever)

Calls for transparency but caution on resits

Some Nigerians praised JAMB and Oloyede for their transparency but raised concerns over plans for mandatory re-examinations.

“No student should be compelled to resit the exam. It should be optional: either a resit or remark the script,” advised @ajaeroc.

“I commend JAMB & its Registrar for towing the line of transparency. However, it must finish the job. Don’t mandate anyone to resit the exam.”

Questions raised on system failures and responses

Others focused on the broader systemic issues, emphasising the need for proper testing before exams and questioning the rush to conduct retakes without fully resolving the problems.

“It’s good that a Nigerian official owns up for a change,” noted @BankolePh. “Before rolling out such an examination system, there should be adequate QA testing, stress testing and scalability of the system.

"But I question why they are rushing back to students retake if they have not identified and fixed the issue responsible for the large-scale system failure.”

He added,

“The Prof here admitted failure and apologised. One infamous Prof announced a ‘glitch’ but never admitted failure nor apologised. Perhaps his own glitch was intentionally triggered?”

Public outrage over reactions to tears

The public also criticised those who applauded during the registrar’s apology, viewing the applause as insensitive to the gravity of the situation.

“The JAMB Registrar was in tears admitting to errors that affected thousands of UTME results and some people in the audience were clapping. This is not a performance. Students’ futures are on the line. What exactly are you clapping for?” questioned @Vicbersong.

Another user said,

“In a sane country, none of these people spearheading this incompetence would still have jobs after this. But alas, the word ‘sane’ is a mystery when it comes to Nigeria. And God will punish everyone who clapped in this video!!” (@gbengaday)

Source: Legit.ng