While the rage on the woeful performances of Nigerian students in the just concluded 2025 UTME is still on, a 15-year-old student of Icons Comprehensive College, Ijapo Estate, Akure, Ondo State, Olumide Afolabi, has dazzled the nation with his sterling aggregate score of 370.
The breakdown of Afolabi’s scores are as follows: Mathematics- 98, Physics- 98, Chemistry- 94, Use of English- 80.
This excellent performance is coming on the heels of the abysmal performances of candidates in the examination following a stunning statistics churned out by the exam body.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had earlier in the week given the score ranges of candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) with the statistics showing that out of about 2 million candidates who sat for the examination, 1.5 million scored below 200 which is the 50 per cent of a total score of 400.
Consequently, this has generated a trail of reactions from Nigerians across divides, with many attributing the mass failure to the poor reading culture prevalent among youngsters. Some, however, are of the opinion that JAMB itself is not free from culpability on the matter.
Other causes fingered for the heart-rending performances include poor parenting, abuse of social media, economic hardship, among others.
