Unmasking the Mmesomes: A Call for Societal Cleansing

Nigeria can work if we all want it to work. From what Miss Mmesome Ejikeme of Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, Uruagu, Nnewi, did, that is, forging her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), we should by now know that she is not alone in the business of generating UTME results. The act did not start with her and is unlikely to end with her.

The forging of UTME results by Mmesome only supports my post of Friday, December 23, 2016, in which I wrote about two social ills. I advised the government of that time under PMB to pay attention to them, or Nigeria would pay a heavy price for the omission or commission in the future. The first social ill had to do with employment becoming the exclusive preserve of the wards or relations of the elites. The second was the corrupt-laden admission process into the universities in which parents and students had to cut corners to secure admissions into Federal and State Universities because they needed help to afford to send their children to private universities.

So, when the issue of Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme surfaced in the media with the boldness of a child who knew deep down that she forged a document but justified why she should be respected because of her first-class brain right from kindergarten, I laughed. Why?

I laughed because we have a Mmesome at every level of our social strata. What of that lecturer Mmesome, who falsifies marks to pass a candidate that woefully failed a subject or examination? What about that male or female Mmesome who went partying and, to pass tests, had to resort to parents sorting out lecturers or a female doing the sorting herself?

What about the political Mmesomes who aid, abet, and falsify election results and certificates, and when caught, go under for some years only to be appointed into a political office after some years? President Yar’adua, of blessed memory, confessed that the election that brought him to power was flawed, apologized, and promised to leave a better legacy in election matters. But was his party sanctioned for the flawed election? Was anybody prosecuted and sanctioned for the falsification of election results at that time?

What of the Mmesome in the civil service that falsifies birth certificates and swears to an affidavit to stay longer in service with no consequences? What about the Mmesome Age cheats in sports?

When a former Finance Minister was caught with a forged NYSC discharge certificate, did the government of integrity not aid her to escape from the country at that time?

So, is it not surprising that in less than two weeks, Miss Mmesome Ejikeme’s case was investigated, concluded, and sanctioned when the prosecution of other Mmesomes in various socio-economic spaces hardly saw the light of day?

Miss Mmesome Ejikeme has been punished for her misdemeanor. I am sure she has learned the hard way.

What happened to Miss Mmesome Ejikeme is unfortunate. The stigma will remain long, and the effect on her psyche will be phenomenal. She must be going through a lot, and we all must assist her in healing. In other climes, she would have gotten bits of help for free professional counseling and therapy.

The courts will find many Mmesomes in the 2023 presidential elections that would cut across electioneering processes for all three major political parties. Still, they will the. Courts sanction them the way of Mmesome? Will the relevant government agencies punish the Mmesomes found guilty of forging election results to win in the 2023 elections? The future shall tell.

Parents and guardians should see this as an opportunity to counsel their wards never to lie or cheat to win; when they win, they should win clean. What Miss Mmesome Ejikeme did is our collective shame. We must not think it is her problem alone. Denying it is to postpone the evil day. Our society needs a profound cleansing of the Mmesomes everywhere, and the time to start is now.

Grace and peace!!!