Between February 17 and 18, some national dailies and television stations were awash with reports announcing the launch of a free JAMB registration programme for 50, 000 students by the South East Renewed Hope Agenda (SERHA), with each state expected to produce 10,000 beneficiaries.
In this investigation, TheInvestigator’s Arinze Chijioke examines how, in Enugu State, fewer than 3% of the intended beneficiaries turned up and received only ₦8,500 each to facilitate their own registration. The report unpacks how the initiative, widely promoted as a major educational intervention, was instead plagued by gaps in transparency, poor coordination, and inconsistencies between what was promised and what was delivered.
An open space at the National Museum, behind New Berries Park in Enugu State, was supposed to be the venue for the free registration of students in the state for this year’s Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examination on Tuesday, February 17th. The Southeast Renewed Hope Agenda (SEHRA) announced it would provide free JAMB registration for 50,000 students across the Southeast region. According to the group, this was intended to remove financial barriers that prevent many students from writing the examination.
The SEHRA operates as a regional mobilisation platform aligned with the Renewed Hope policy framework and the re-election of Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu. While the group does not publicly disclose its finances, its activities, including youth engagement programmes, are framed as supporting the federal Renewed Hope Agenda, which is government-funded.
A day earlier, the secretary of the group in Enugu State, Chris Agu, told students via WhatsApp that the free JAMB registration would be held at the event venue. In another WhatsApp message seen by this reporter, the coordinator of the group for Udenu Local Government Area also told students that “Jamb officials would be present to facilitate immediate UTME registration for participants/beneficiaries from Enugu state”.
That Tuesday morning, Anthony Chisom, an applicant from Isi Uzo local government, and students from other LGAs hoped to see JAMB officials seated with their laptops, ready to enrol them in the examination, which was ending exactly 11 days later. But upon arrival at the venue, they discovered that no registration was going on. Instead, about 7 canopies were arranged at different locations, with plastic chairs draped in red cloth and music playing in the background.
Project banner.
At one end of the location, a banner with an image of President Tinubu, that of SERHA’s National Coordinator, Belusochukwu Enwere, and the state coordinator, Chukwudi Mba, was hanging down with an inscription “South East Renewed Hope Agenda (SERHA) Enugu State Chapter JAMB Scholarship for 50,000 students. Behind the banner, some individuals were seated with forms, confirming the details of students who had provided their names, phone numbers, emails, ages, communities, and LGA during the application phase.
Soon, Enwere got on stage and began to address the students. He described the intervention as a strategic investment in the future of young people in the state. He said that the initiative was designed to remove financial barriers that prevent many brilliant students from sitting for the UTME.
“Today is not just a ceremony. Today is a movement of hope and empowerment that boldly declares that the future of Enugu State will not be limited by financial barriers,” he said. “Many brilliant young minds lose opportunities each year simply because they cannot afford registration fees. That reality must change, and, today, President Bola Tinubu is changing it.” “This programme is not charity; it is strategic empowerment. When we educate our youth, we secure our economy. When we empower our students, we strengthen our nation.”
After his address, the master of the ceremony asked the students to clap, and they obliged. Soon, the students were asked to line up while Enwere, accompanied by other coordinators and an individual carrying a bag, handed out envelopes containing N8,500 to each of them, instead of a proper registration as promised.
“I did not understand what was going on, what we were told was that registration would be done at the venue,” a distraught Chisom said.
The amount was supposed to cover the cost of JAMB registration and the mock exam. Findings show that while the registration alone costs ₦7200, the mock costs ₦1500, for a total of ₦8700.
Students waiting to be attended to.
When the distribution ended, the students were asked to raise their envelopes while they praised President Tinubu’s administration. Some attendees were also encouraged to publicly express their support for the President during the ceremony.
One of them, Emeka Udeh, said, “I finished school in August 2021, but I did not have money to further. Fortunately for me today, the president has shown that he can do everything possible for us who do not have the money to further our education. I am grateful to him.”
Emeka Udeh.
Another beneficiary, Chioma Eneh, said: “I will use the money for the JAMB registration because it would have been difficult to gather the money if I did not get it here. It has become a lot easier for me.”
Soon, Enwere got into a black Jeep and zoomed off with individuals believed to be working closely with him. Thereafter, the students dispersed into groups with their coordinators, while Gala and small bottles of soft drinks were distributed as lunch. It was almost the close of business when the event ended. And because they were not registered at the venue as promised, Chisom slept at a friend’s house and registered the next morning before travelling back.
Before they left, he and other students from his LGA were given ₦1000 to support their transportation, despite having already spent ₦6,000 individually to travel to the venue, almost the entire money received as a scholarship. Students who did not have anywhere to stay travelled back the same day with the money they received.
“In Isi-Uzo, we don’t have anywhere to register for JAMB, except in Enugu, or we travel to Nsukka,” he said. “If they had done the registration without giving us money, it would have been better; now the plan is defeated for some students who spent it on transportation”. They told us it was going to be free registration, but when we came, they started giving us money.
Enugu State Deputy woman leader of the group, Angela Nwabuno, claimed that the JAMB officials did not show up because of the low turnout of students, but one of the leaders of the group, Johson Ejiofor (not real name), told this reporter that they considered the logistics cost of bringing JAMB officials and thought it was more cost-effective to pay the students.
