Joy Mmesoma Ejikeme, a student hailing from Anambra State, has finally broken her silence regarding the reasons behind her decision to forge her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scores.
Ejikeme, previously hailed for achieving the highest score of 362 in the 2023 UTME, was recently discovered to have manipulated her results using a computer.
While she has admitted to the forgery, the motive behind her actions remained a mystery, until now.
During an exclusive interview on Africa Independent Television’s popular ‘Kaakaki’ program, Anambra State Commissioner of Education, Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, shed light on the matter.
News About Nigeria reports that, according to her, when questioned about her reasons for the forgery, Ejikeme provided no satisfactory answer.
“She simply kept repeating ‘nothing,’ insisting that she had no idea why she resorted to this illegal act,” shared Chuma-Udeh.
Contrary to popular belief, the commissioner refuted the notion that Ejikeme’s actions were a consequence of inadequate upbringing.
Chuma-Udeh emphasized that the human mind is complex and can exhibit perplexing behaviors at times.
Offering a possible explanation, Professor Chuma-Udeh suggested that Ejikeme’s behavior might be attributed to a psychological issue.
She asserted that individuals occasionally act in severe and inexplicable ways, which cannot always be attributed to parental negligence.
Ejikeme’s case has ignited a broader discussion about the immense pressure placed on students to excel in examinations. Some argue that the weight of expectations can drive students to resort to desperate measures like forging their scores.
Conversely, there are those who believe that Ejikeme’s case is an isolated incident and that she is, in fact, an intelligent individual.
