Work on your Weakness: Stop Blaming JAMB for Failure -By Shereefdeen Sawe

Since 2019, after I have written my UTME, I made a vow to my pen that I would always write against whosoever unnecessarily offload his/her woeful performance onto JAMB or ‘ tough luck”. I know some people would ask ” why hasn’t he made the vow prior to his exams ? ” Well, anybody closely attached to me can answer the question. I’m not strangling the fact that technical or systematic issues can arise in some situations but, it’s 10 out of 1000.

Recently, JAMB has started releasing this year’s UTME results and ever since then, ” Mass Failure in UTME” barely escapes the headlines of every media outlet in Nigeria. What is the cause of this failure ? Or should we ask who is to blame ?

The examination has been blindly and witlessly colored with the wrong paint. It has stereotypically gained ground in the minds of many students that the exam is a ‘game of luck’ which everybody can play to test his/her fortune. Sorry! You were being blown by a wind of pitiful deception. The exam is not by luck although luck would also play its part.

Let me pretend as if I did not attend the wedding between ” the social media and the students “. How social media lured vulnerable students to dance to lame when the main dance is coming in a week time. They tend to knowingly part ways with the fact that they’ve registered for Jamb and needed some time to study.

However, social media platforms can greatly help out a person that can use them effectively.

Should we talk about our dying educational system in Nigeria, how that Physics teacher lazily refused to cover up the syllabus, how that Literature master only taught us a single novel and a poem. Our educational system would not elude the blame as well.

Furthermore, many students are not familiar with the whole system of the exam, most people do not even know the prescribed syllabus for each subject. Please, always ask questions from your predecessors or there are many reliable Apps available where you can access to get information. UTME requires more than ordinary mouth preparation. It’s not as easy as we think. It also crosses beyond brilliancy. It needs smartness.

I believe with strong prayers,adequate preparation and moderate confidence not over confidence, even if fate is trading with that particular person, he/she can still score a reasonably considerable mark, not 120 or 135. Work to realize your weakness, admit the weakness, and stop blaming JAMB or bad luck for your failure.