Mr. Opesusi Oluwafemi, the grieving father of 19-year-old Faith Opesusi Timileyin, has opened up about the tragic loss of his daughter, who reportedly ended her life after receiving a low score in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) — a score now possibly linked to a widespread technical error admitted by the examination board.
Faith, a bright and determined young woman who dreamed of studying Microbiology, had high academic aspirations. According to her father, she had excelled in the 2024 UTME, which only deepened her shock and disappointment when her 2025 result reflected a score of just 146, far below expectations and not competitive for admission into her desired program.
In an emotional interview with BBC Pidgin, Mr. Opesusi shared the devastating aftermath of the result. “My daughter scored very high in last year’s JAMB result. This year, they gave her 146 and that was what made her drink rat poison,” he said, revealing that her emotional collapse was so severe, she saw no way forward.
He added sorrowfully, “She was devastated and disappointed when she saw her results. If she had opened up, we would have consoled and told her that there is hope.” His words reflected the anguish of a parent blindsided by a tragedy that might have been preventable with more open communication and better support systems.
This incident has further intensified public concern in the wake of recent revelations by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). On Wednesday, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, publicly apologized, acknowledging that technical glitches had significantly affected the UTME scores of hundreds of thousands of candidates.
Holding back tears during the press briefing, the registrar confirmed that no fewer than 379,997 candidates were impacted by these errors, which casts a heavy shadow over the reliability and fairness of the 2025 UTME results. His emotional admission has sparked fresh calls for urgent reforms, increased transparency, and mental health support for students facing academic pressure.
Faith’s story is now not only a personal tragedy but a national wake-up call — highlighting the extreme pressure placed on Nigerian youths in the pursuit of higher education, the need for emotional and psychological support, and the importance of institutional accountability when errors have life-altering consequences.