THE glitch in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which affected over 379,000 candidates, has raised concerns among Nigerians.

While the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) acknowledged the challenge and has rescheduled the exam for nearly 400,000 affected candidates, leading Nigerian educators, social media influencers, politicians and other Nigerians said the glitch highlighted deeper systemic rots threatening the nation’s education.

Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, expressed sadness over the crisis.

He described the challenge as a disturbing sign of systemic institutional fragility.

In a statement titled “Let’s Not Make Glitches Become a National Crisis,” Obi acknowledged JAMB’s prompt response to the glitch and public apology tendered by its Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, a professor.

The former Anambra State governor warned that the recurring nature of such failures in critical sectors posed a serious threat to national stability.

“The emotional and psychological toll on students and their parents, some of whom have reportedly suffered trauma, and in heartbreaking cases, even death, is a reminder of what is truly at stake,” Obi said.

He stressed that credibility in public institutions, particularly those involved in education and youth development, was essential to national progress.

Similarly, Nigerian activist and social media influencer, Very Dark Man (VDM), reacted to the glitch in a video,  VDM expressed concerns over the incident.

He said JAMB’s failure to properly conduct UTME had taken emotional and psychological toll on candidates and their families.

He criticised JAMB for what he described as its lack of accountability and transparency in managing its affairs.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Illorin, Wahab Egbewole, in a statement commended JAMB for being honest and admitting its failure.

“This approach demonstrated courage, honesty of purpose, integrity, strength of character and on a whole a call to the younger generation to emulate these positive values,” he said.

The ICIR reports that the JAMB registrar was a former vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin.