Nigeria, May 19 -- For a fleeting moment the JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculation Board) Registrar's tearful press conference looked like the denouement of a saga that has seen the manager of "Matriculation Examination for entry into all Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (by whatever name called) in Nigeria" admit to errors in the results of some candidates who recently took the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME). Step back from much of that drama, though, and in significant parts, this has been a most unpleasant sequence of events. The reports of, at least, a suicide by a candidate disappointed by the outcome of the exams, describe one extreme of the spectrum of experiences.

JAMB's initial gut ...