Section 17 (3) (f) of the 199 Constitution states that “The State shall direct is policy towards ensuring that ..children, young persons and the aged are protected against any exploitation whatsoever, and against moral and material neglect” This constitutional provision imposes an obligation on the various tiers of government to make special provisions and care for children, young persons and the elderlies against conditions that will make them susceptible to immoral and material dispositions. They are the vulnerable group. How have the Federal, State and Local Governments fared on this?
The recent examination malpractice sage involving one Miss Ejikeme Mmosoma from Anambra State, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME, making her the highest-scoring candidate in the examination and her subsequent admission of deceiving the entire nation, is a very low point for this country. For more than a week, legal practitioners, scholars, public commentators, media houses and governments were being played around by a 19 year old girl who claimed to have been denied her “rightful score” by JAMB and seeking the intervention of her State Government and members of the public to compel JAMB to recant. Good enough, JAMB never recanted but stood its ground that Ejikeme’s actual score was 249, and that she had falsified her results. Ejikeme has since admitted to falsifying her results, and she has been banned from taking the UTME for three years. She has also been asked to apologize to JAMB, the school she attended, and the Anambra State Government. The Fact-Finding Committee set up by the Anambra State Government also vindicated JAMB and asked Ejikeme to apologize. Her father has since apologized to Nigerians. But Ejikeme Mmesoma did not just learn how to cheat today; she must have learnt it from elders around her or she must have seen some people do it and got away with it.
Why use a sledge hammer on Ejikeme when she was just a victim of ADUL-TERATION? Honesty is a scarce commodity in Nigeria. In fact to be honest in both private and public dealings could be an aberration. Was it not in this same country that the immediate past President pardoned two former convicted State Governors who looted their States’ treasuries and were already serving their time in prison? They went away with the looted funds. Was it not in this same country that we see padding of budgets every year and no culprit till date has been prosecuted? Is it not this same country that the National Assembly and the Executive treat with levity the annual Auditor-General’s Report which contains explicit details of executive stealing and mismanagement of funds in the various government offices? This is the same country where a State Governor is alleged to have forged NYSC Certificate; and a former federal Minister of Aviation and a (Dis?) Honorable Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria charged to court for lieing that she lost her NYSC Certificate. What about the revelations by Senator Bulkachuwa?
It now seems that scammers and fraudsters have taken over the leadership of Nigeria. It is said that the apple does not fall away far from tree. Mmesoma is just a manifestation of what many of us did to get to where we are today. The blame is on us, not Mmesoma.
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