Anambra State student, Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme has spoken out on why she forged her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scores.
Ejikeme, who had earlier been celebrated for emerging with the highest score of 362 in the 2023 UTME, was found to have manipulated her score using a computer.
She has since admitted to the forgery, but has not said why she did it.
In an interview with Africa Independent Television’s ‘Kaakaki’ program, Anambra State Commissioner of Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, said that Ejikeme was unable to provide a plausible answer when asked why she forged her score.
“She kept on repeating ‘nothing’, stating that she had no idea why she carried out the illegal act,” Chuma-Udeh said.
The commissioner refuted the popular assumption that Ejikeme’s actions were a consequence of inadequate upbringing. She said that the human mind is complex and sometimes exhibits perplexing behavior.
Professor Chuma-Udeh suggested that the young lady’s behaviour may be attributed to a psychological issue, stating that individuals occasionally act in extreme and inexplicable ways, and it is not always a result of parental negligence.
Ejikeme’s case has sparked a debate about the pressure on students to perform well in exams.
Some argue that the pressure to succeed can lead to students taking desperate measures, such as forging their scores. Others say that Ejikeme’s case is an isolated incident and that she is actually intelligent.
