Former presidential candidate and Labour Party leader, Peter Obi, has raised alarm over the state of Nigeria’s educational system following the release of the 2024 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination results, which revealed that more than 78% of candidates scored below 200.
According to official data, 1,955,069 candidates sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), but only about 420,000 scored above 200 — the traditional benchmark for university admissions.
Obi described the results as a sobering reflection of “the deep-rooted challenges in our educational system” and blamed decades of chronic underinvestment in education for the poor performance.
“The latest JAMB results once again highlight the consequences of underinvestment in education, a sector that should be central to our national development strategy,” Obi stated.
He went on to compare Nigeria’s university enrollment figures with other developing countries. While Nigeria has a total university enrollment of just 2 million students, the National University of Bangladesh alone has over 3.4 million students — despite Bangladesh having only 75% of Nigeria’s population. Likewise, Turkey, with a population of 87.7 million, boasts more than 7 million university students.
“Bangladesh, which once lagged behind Nigeria in virtually every measurable development index, now surpasses us in all key areas, including the Human Development Index (HDI),” he said.
Obi reiterated his long-standing position that education must be viewed as a strategic investment, not merely a social service.
“Education is the most critical driver of national development and the most powerful tool for lifting people out of poverty. We must now invest aggressively in education — at all levels — if we are serious about building a prosperous, secure, and equitable Nigeria,” he concluded.
