The Deputy National President of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, has urged the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to reduce the three-year examination ban the board placed on Mmesoma Ejikeme to one year.
In a telephone chat with The Nation, Ogunbanjo said the examination body should consider that Mmesoma still has a future, adding that banning her for this year alone should be enough punitive measure against her misconduct.
“Well, when you beat a child, you still try to bring her back. The examination body should understand that she still has a future. But to serve as a deterrent to others, she should miss this year’s admission.
“JAMB should temper justice with mercy and reduce her ban to a year. I don’t think anyone would try that (forging of result) again because this story was well publicised and JAMB’s website is well encrypted. So, no candidate would dare JAMB again, having seen what has happened to Mmesoma,” he said.
But the Vice Chancellor of Ahman Pategi University (APU) in Kwara State, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, said Mmesoma should serve the imposed three-year ban to serve as a deterrent to others.
“I think the issue is clear. There was a crime; a forgery was committed, coupled with character assassination. It is good that the young lady has owned up to her crime when confronted with irrefutable evidence.