By Godfrey AKON
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has clarified that hijab-wearing Lagos candidate of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, Ms. Tiamiyu Ayisat Morenikeji, did not lose a minute out of her scheduled time.
Spokesperson of JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in a statement on Wednesday said the clarification became “necessary to dispel the erroneous insinuations in some quarters that Morenikeji was not allowed into the examination venue until after 30 minutes with some even calling for compensation.”
Recall that the said candidate was asked to remove her Hijab at Bafuto Institute, Ile-Iwe Bus Stop, Ejigbo, Lagos, but later allowed in after intervention of the board’s officials who were on ground.
Fabian described the insinuations over list time as a misleading narrative aimed at further inflaming passions and exacerbating an already-settled issue.
According to him, the incident had been thoroughly investigated by the board and the agency can, therefore, state categorically that the candidate’s time was not affected in anyway.
“This fact was corroborated by the Supervisor at the centre, who is a lecturer of Islamics in one of the nation’s universities, who has written extensively on the issue of hijab in many of his publications,” he said.
The statement quoted the supervisor as saying that “At 6:20 am, when we were about to commence the biometric verification, I saw some female candidates removing their hijab.”
“On enquiry, I was told that a centre official had asked them to remove their hijab. I immediately addressed the affected candidates and asked them to get back their hijab and proceed for their screening after educating the official, who gave the misleading instruction. She was, thereafter, screened accordingly and allowed in with her hijab after which she sat the examination.”
It further reiterated that JAMB perceives examination as a reflection of a candidate’s performance especially where such a candidate was not deprived of any privilege or right.
“Therefore, the little drama associated with the entrance of Ms. Tiamiyu Ayisat Morenikeji into the examination venue has no effect on her time, space or anything related to her schedule as it happened within the time allotted to the biometric verification of candidates earmarked for a particular session and had, therefore, not even gained ingress into her final destination, the examination hall.
“It is on record that the Board’s examination officials comprising the team centre officials, the supervisor, technical staff, biometric verification officer and other officials, acted promptly to address the situation and the candidate was allowed to undergo other necessary processes preparatory to taking her examination in good time.
“Part of the proactive measures taken was to immediately caution the overzealous centre official on the right way to go and the candidate subsequently asked to proceed for biometric screening prior to entering the holding hall to join her colleagues before the commencement of the examination, which she sat without any hindrance.
“The call for compensation is, therefore, misplaced not only because it has no place in our operation but because the candidate was not deprived of anything as the fracas lasted not more than five minutes and happened even before the official commencement time for screening not to talk of the examination proper. It was on record that she was one of the earliest to present herself for screening,” he said.
The board, therefore, urged “all stakeholders, be it religious or civil society, to be circumspect with their requests, because the Board, as a national institution, does not pander to the whims and caprices of any group, creed or individual and will, therefore, continue to be fair and just in its dealings in line with its statutory duties.”
It further call for the support and understanding of individuals and groups to assist the Board in ensuring that no candidate, irrespective of his religious, social or ethnic status, is intimidated or denied his due rights.
JAMB also urged the public to be conscious of the far-reaching implications of putting forward requests that should be situated firmly within the ambit of frivolity.
