Osun Masterminds Urge JAMB to End Early-Morning Exam Protocols

In a strong appeal for reform, civil society group The Osun Masterminds (TOM) has called on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to immediately restructure its testing protocols for the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The group specifically demanded that the accreditation and exam procedures, currently beginning at 6:30 a.m., be shifted to 8:00 a.m. instead. Their concerns arise from reports of security breaches, candidate disappearances, and incidents where some candidates failed to complete their exams due to logistics and timing issues.

Speaking on behalf of TOM, Wole Oladapo highlighted the dangers posed by the early start time, especially for young candidates, some as young as sixteen, who must travel before dawn across often unsafe roads.

“How do you expect a sixteen-year-old child to navigate dangerous roads early in the morning? Only a careless parent would allow their child to leave for an exam centre at such hours," Oladapo stressed.

The group also criticized JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, accusing him of endangering the lives of ordinary Nigerian children with protocols he would not personally endure.

“He would not agree to travel between Ilorin and Offa by 6 a.m. himself. Why then impose such risks on the children of ordinary Nigerians?” Oladapo questioned.

TOM expressed frustration over JAMB’s official defense that early accreditation is necessary, arguing that accreditation is an integral part of the exam process and should be scheduled during daylight hours for safety.

"Even JAMB still came out to defend that it is protocol that starts at 6:30 a.m. Is the protocol not part of the examination?" he asked.

Beyond the timing concerns, TOM also pointed to broader systemic issues:

• Mismatched Exam Centers: Cases where candidates were assigned centers outside their preferred towns.

• Technical Failures: Instances where candidates’ computer systems crashed during exams, forcing them to wait an extra year to retake the UTME.

"How has this been addressed? That is very unfortunate," Oladapo lamented.

TOM called on the Nigerian public and members of the National Assembly to advocate for safer, fairer conditions for young Nigerians, both in exam environments and in national service deployments.

"We are making a demand as a group that JAMB should stop the 6:30 a.m. protocol immediately and restructure to make sure it starts by 8:00 a.m.," Oladapo concluded.

As Nigeria continues to grapple with national security challenges, TOM’s message is clear: safeguarding the lives and futures of young people must come first.