EXCLUSIVE: 'Check Your Spam!’: Parents Panic as JAMB Alerts Go Missing Before Resit

By Ibrahim Kegbegbe

LAGOS — As the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) begins the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for nearly 380,000 affected candidates, concerned parents and education advocates are raising alarm over communication lapses that may jeopardize candidates’ chances of sitting for the makeup test.

One such voice is that of Mr. Kanmi Olatoye, a broadcast journalist, publicist, writer, and documentarist, who took to his social media page on Thursday to alert the public about a potentially costly oversight in JAMB’s notification process.

“If you have a candidate in any of the areas where JAMB is conducting a rescheduled UTME, please don’t just rely on text messages,” Olatoye cautioned. “Also check the registered e-mail — both the primary and spam folders. I saw my son’s notification inside the spam folder with one ridiculous name as sender. No JAMB imprints until I opened it. Please take extra measures to do it. The exams start tomorrow!”

His message coincides with a national apology issued by JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who emotionally admitted to widespread technical failures during the 2025 UTME that led to the annulment of results for 379,997 candidates across the country.

Communication Breakdown and Parental Vigilance

Olatoye’s discovery highlights an ongoing problem of unreliable communication between JAMB and candidates — a flaw that could lead to thousands missing their rescheduled exams simply because they did not receive or recognize the official notification in time.

In a follow-up call with our correspondent, a parent from Ikorodu, Mrs. Ebeneezer Mary, expressed disappointment at the oversight: “It’s unacceptable that such a critical message would arrive with no official JAMB imprint and under an unfamiliar sender’s name. Many parents won’t bother checking their spam folders. If Mr. Kanmi hadn’t, his son would’ve missed the resit.”

Centres and Scale of Retake

According to JAMB, the affected candidates — with Lagos State and the Southeast zones being the hardest hit — are scheduled to retake their exams between May 16 and May 17, 2025. Out of the nearly 380,000 candidates, over 206,000 are from Lagos, while more than 173,000 are from five Southeastern states.

The Registrar attributed the failure to “a combination of human error and technological malfunction,” while assuring Nigerians that new systems are being put in place to prevent a recurrence.

Urgent Call for Transparency and Reform

Civil society organisations and education analysts have since urged JAMB to improve transparency in its communication process, including clearer sender identities and more proactive engagement with candidates and their guardians.

Education rights advocate Mrs. Serah Akingbade stated: “If an exam board sends life-changing messages that land in spam folders and look like phishing attempts, then the problem is bigger than technical failure — it is a failure of communication ethics.”

Advice for Parents and Candidates

As the resit commences, Olatoye and others are calling on parents, guardians, and candidates to take additional precautions:

Check both SMS and email accounts regularly.

Inspect spam or junk folders for any unfamiliar messages.

Verify exam information directly on the official JAMB portal.

“We are dealing with the future of our children,” said a private secondary school principal in Lagos who asked not to be named. “A missed message shouldn’t be the reason a child loses a year of academic progress.”

While JAMB’s decision to offer a resit has been viewed by many as a just and necessary redress, voices like Mr. Olatoye’s remind the public that more needs to be done to ensure clarity, accountability, and support for affected students and families — especially when trust in public institutions is already fragile.

“The burden shouldn’t rest solely on the shoulders of already anxious parents,” another parent remarked. “JAMB must do better.”