The immediate past Minister for Labour and Emolyment, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mr. Festus Keyamo has reacted to the findings of the Anambra State Committee set up by Governor Charles Soludo to investigate the saga between the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and Ejikeme Mmesoma over her UTME result.
In a statement via his verified Twitter handle on Saturday, the former Minister, who described the incident as unfortunate, said he deliberately waited for the end of the investigation before commenting on the saga.
Keyamo described Mmesoma as a brilliant girl, advising that the nation should be careful not to destroy her, noting that what she needed was counselling, correction and guidance.
He said that “She’s a brilliant girl, judging by her actual score of 249. The nation should be careful not to destroy her. What she needs is counselling, correction and guidance. She obviously did not know the weight and gravity of what she was doing. As teenagers, most of us made juvenile mistakes that never came to light”.
Investigation had shown Mmesoma forged the 362 score she was parading as against the authentic score, 249.
Read the complete text below:
Festus Keyamo
I deliberately waited for the end of this investigation before commenting on this unfortunate case of our daughter, Mmesoma Ejikeme.
She’s a brilliant girl, judging by her actual score of 249. The nation should be careful not to destroy her. What she needs is counselling, correction and guidance. She obviously did not know the weight and gravity of what she was doing. As teenagers, most of us made juvenile mistakes that never came to light.
The parents should encourage her to do a public apology to JAMB, to her family and to Nigerians after which she should be allowed to get her admission based on her actual scores. Anyone still pushing other narratives over this issue is not helping her and her family.
It is time to close this very unfortunate chapter and move on. This is my plea.
