At 4:30 a.m., long before the first call to prayer rises across many Nigerian towns and cities, thousands of teenagers are already awake. Some have barely slept through the night. Examination slips are folded carefully into bags and held tightly like passports to another future.
For many candidates sitting the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the day represents far more than another academic exercise. It carries the weight of years of sacrifice, for some; for others, it embodies the hopes and dreams of their families. As the sun begins to rise, illuminating the streets with a golden hue, the air is thick with anticipation and anxiety, each student silently praying for success that could change their lives forever. failures; expectations from family members; and the hope of securing higher education in a country where university admission remains fiercely competitive.
The UTME, conducted annually by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is widely seen as the principal gateway into tertiary education in Nigeria. Officially, it is designed as a merit-based process that offers students equal opportunity to compete for limited admission spaces. Yet, beneath that narrative lies a much harsher reality. Beyond the examination hall, millions of candidates and their families are confronted by hidden financial costs, logistical challenges, long-distance travel, insecurity, and emotional pressure that often shape performance as much as the preparation does.
This year, with more than 2.2 million candidates competing for admission into universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, the examination process has once again exposed the inequalities embedded within Nigeria’s educational system.
Across Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Benue, and Edo states, candidates and parents described a process that extends far beyond answering questions on a timed computer screen. For many households, the UTME has become a test not only of academic ability but also of endurance, financial strength, and survival.
The journey begins before dawn
For many candidates, examination day begins with journeys that start hours before sunrise. Examination centers are frequently located far from candidates’ homes, often in unfamiliar communities and, in some cases, outside their states of residence.
In urban centres, candidates battle heavy traffic and long commuting hours. In rural communities, the burden is even greater. Students often combine motorcycles, tricycles, buses, and long walks just to arrive at designated Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres before the mandatory reporting time.
The pressure to arrive early creates enormous stress. Candidates who miss scheduled biometric accreditation risk losing the opportunity to sit for the examination entirely. Families therefore leave home at odd hours, exposing children and parents alike to poor roads, transport uncertainty, fatigue, and insecurity currently ravaging the nation.
Reports of accidents involving candidates and their relatives have become increasingly common over the years. In some instances, parents accompanying their children have reportedly collapsed from exhaustion or stress or even died, as was the case in Ondo State, where a mother, identified as Oluwasola Adebayo, collapsed and died while waiting for her child to finish the exam. These incidents are not isolated tragedies but symptoms of a system struggling under infrastructural and logistical strain.
For candidates from low-income households, the burden begins long before examination day.
Although the official UTME registration fee ranges between N7,200 and N8,000, many families say the actual cost of participating in the examination is far higher.
Expenses accumulate through tutorial lessons, internet subscriptions, cyber café charges, biometric verification, correction of personal records at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), transportation, accommodation, and feeding.
For some families, the cumulative cost reaches two or three times the official examination fee.
Mariam Usman, one of the candidates, said she spent N35,000 on a three-month tutorial programme in Tudun Wada, where she attended lessons four times weekly.
‘It was helpful, but they only taught me three subjects. I had to study one on my own,’ she said.
Even after months of preparation, she still encountered avoidable stress on examination day. Scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. session, she reportedly waited an extra hour before being admitted into the hall and eventually completed the examination around 5 p.m.
‘Even though it was my first time, I still passed,’ she said, while noting that the overall process was far from seamless.
Parents say the official registration fee tells only a fraction of the story.
Imam Yusuf, whose child also sat for the examination, explained that most families spend heavily on supporting requirements that are rarely acknowledged publicly.
‘The form itself is not the real cost,’ he said. ‘It’s everything around it.’
That ‘everything’ includes private tutorials, transportation to registration centres, data subscriptions for mock examinations, printing fees, and repeated visits to CBT centres due to technical or scheduling issues.
Long distances and rising risks
One of the major complaints raised by parents and candidates this year was the posting of students to examination centres far from their communities.
Dorathy Danladi described the situation as both financially draining and dangerous.
‘In some cases, candidates travel long distances, across states. That comes with serious risks,’ she said, referencing growing concerns about kidnapping and unsafe travel conditions in parts of the country.
Insecurity has transformed what should be a routine academic process into a frightening ordeal for many families. Parents often feel compelled to accompany their children, especially younger candidates, resulting in additional transport and accommodation costs.
Danladi also pointed to recurring operational failures at CBT centres, including unstable electricity supply, delayed accreditation, malfunctioning systems, and biometric verification problems.
‘When systems fail or fingerprints are rejected, students become anxious. It affects their performance,’ she said.
For candidates already battling exhaustion from travel and financial stress, such disruptions can significantly undermine performance during the examination itself.
Scarcity of CBT centres
Stakeholders also argue that the shortage of CBT centres across many parts of Nigeria worsens the burden on candidates.
Balikis Ahmed noted that the limited number of accredited centers serving multiple communities contributes directly to rising costs.
‘In some locations, one or two centers serve several communities. That increases transport and accommodation costs for families,’ she said.
She argued that partnerships involving government agencies, TETFund, and private investors could help expand infrastructure and reduce pressure on existing facilities.
The scarcity of CBT centers creates concentration points where thousands of candidates compete for limited slots. This often leads to overcrowding, delayed examinations, and excessive transport expenses for families forced to travel long distances.
In Lagos, several candidates who sat for the 2026 UTME described the examination process as financially draining and emotionally exhausting.
Grace Taiwo, who wrote the examination on April 16, detailed the extent of the sacrifices made by her family.
According to her, her brother spent N10,000 on the JAMB form and N15,000 monthly on tutorials over three months.
She added that transportation to her examination center cost her N6,000.
‘During my preparation, I had to deny myself a lot of things like sleep and social media. I had to read like never before,’ she said.
She also lamented the difficulty in reaching her examination venue on time.
‘On that morning, I thought of waiting for the rain to stop, but not until it started heavily. I just had to enter the rain. To be honest, I couldn’t get a vehicle, so I had to trek to a certain bus stop before I was able to see a bike’.
According to her, the transportation challenge worsened when commercial motorcyclists increased fares because of the weather and early hours.
‘The bike man had to overcharge the fee, but I had no choice. Even on the way, the bike developed issues, which delayed me further. My clothes were soaked before I even got to the center.’
Upon arrival, she was confronted with long queues and strict screening procedures, compounding the stress she had already experienced before the examination even began.
Another Lagos resident, Yomi Oladeji, who supported a candidate through the process, said expenses mounted rapidly from the earliest stages.
He listed costs including N5,000 for National Identification Number registration and N3,000 monthly for evening lessons, alongside transport and other logistics.
For Kehinde Michael, the challenge was more psychological than financial.
‘The preparation for JAMB is quite stressful,’ he said.
He explained that reports from previous candidates heightened anxiety about the unpredictability of examination questions.
To improve concentration, he relocated from his brother’s home to avoid distractions.
‘I denied myself sleep. I read daily, sometimes up to two hours, especially close to the exam,’ he said.
Kano candidates battle distance and cost
In Kano State, many candidates said the burden of sitting for the UTME went far beyond academics.
Adam Jamil Adam recounted how he was posted to Kaduna State to write his examination, forcing him to travel long distances under intense pressure.
‘I was posted to Kaduna. I left very early and didn’t eat,’ he said. ‘I was just afraid of missing the exam.’
Although the official examination fee remained below 8,000, Adam said the total cost of writing the examination rose dramatically due to transport and accommodation expenses.
‘I spent 6,000 from Kano to Kaduna. Because my exam was early, I had to travel a day before and lodge in a hotel. The cheapest I found was ?15,000 per night, excluding feeding and local transport,’ he said.
Another candidate, Abdullahi Dahiru Tijjani, faced financial hardship even though his examination center remained within Kano State.
After spending approximately 13,000 on registration and associated expenses, he reportedly lacked sufficient transport fare to return home.
‘I had to return home with the tricycle rider so he could be paid,’ he said.
Parents in Kano also described the process as emotionally draining.
Zainab Bello, a single mother, said funding her child’s participation required painful sacrifices.
‘I had to save from my market sales,’ she said. ‘Sometimes I removed money meant for food.’
Another parent, Hussain Muhammad, recounted the stress of helping his son reach an examination center along Gwarzo Road near Bayero University.
‘My son was posted to a CBT center along Gwarzo Road near Bayero University, Kano. I had to first locate the center, then hire a tricycle early in the morning to meet the 7:00 a.m. deadline. I also waited to bring him back home. It was stressful.’
While some urban candidates benefited from proximity to examination centers, others faced significantly higher transportation and accommodation costs, exposing a widening inequality in access to higher education opportunities.
Allegations of malpractice
Beyond logistical challenges, allegations of irregularities have further raised concerns about the integrity of the examination process.
Sources alleged that at a CBT center in Kano, some candidates were attended to outside designated computer pools after making unofficial payments.
There were also claims that a staff member at a private university in Kano demanded up to 100,000 from candidates without UTME results, allegedly promising access to unofficial channels connected to JAMB.
Although these allegations remain unverified, they have intensified concerns about exploitation and malpractice within the system.
Most CBT operators contacted declined to make official comments. However, one operator who spoke anonymously denied wrongdoing.
‘We are only representatives,’ the operator said. ‘We follow instructions from JAMB. We cannot go outside the standards set by the examination body.’
Candidates confront insecurity
In Benue State, the UTME experience exposed an even more disturbing reality: the intersection of education and insecurity.
Candidates and parents described journeys shaped by fear of kidnapping, high transport costs, and uneven access to CBT centers.
Dubem Clements lamented the financial burden imposed by distant examination postings.
‘This aspect of sending children to far-off distances to sit for their examination is financially draining. My son travelled as far as the Apa area from Makurdi for his JAMB, making me spend a total of N35,000 for the trip,’ he said.
For Innocent Oche, who traveled from Otukpo to Ugbokolo in the Okpokwu Local Government Area, the examination process became both physically exhausting and financially demanding.
‘My JAMB form cost N7,200, correction at NIMC was N2,500, printing of the exam slip was N500, while transportation to and from the center cost N6,500. Checking the result cost N50, bringing the total to N16,750,’ he said.
An internally displaced person, Ibaah Jacob, described an even harsher experience.
Living in the Agagbe IDP camp, he said he spent heavily travelling first to Makurdi for registration and later to Otukpo for the examination.
‘That’s not all. I had to rent a room for N6,000 for one night. Altogether, I spent about N30,000, excluding feeding and the cost of the JAMB form obtained earlier,’ he said.
In contrast, candidates who wrote examinations closer to home faced far fewer challenges.
Sesugh Joseph, who sat for the examination in Makurdi, said his experience was comparatively easier.
‘I didn’t face many challenges. My transportation cost N2,000, and the JAMB form was N7,200,’ he said.
Trauma and fear among minors
For some younger candidates, the experience was deeply traumatic.
Terkula Igidi explained how his 15-year-old son, Msughter Terkula, travelled alone from Makurdi to Apa Local Government Area for the examination.
According to him, the journey itself negatively affected the boy’s performance.
‘We spent conservatively, N25,000 for him to travel from Makurdi to Iga-Okpaya, Apa LGA of Benue State, to write the exams. Due to the biting economic hardship, his mother had to sell a goat to get the transport fare and feeding allowance for him.’
‘His name is Msughter Terkula, and as a minor (15-year-old), it was a traumatizing experience for him, travelling from Makurdi to Otukpo and then to Iga-Okpaya all by himself. The pervasive insecurity in the state was also a cause for concern, not just for him but also for us, his parents.
‘And the paralyzing fear of getting kidnapped or killed made him perform abysmally in the JAMB. He scored only 176, whereas his sister, who wrote in Makurdi, scored above 200.’
The teenager himself said the experience left him emotionally shaken.
‘It was a tough experience for me travelling far to an unknown place to write JAMB. It was so rough sleeping on a chair at the center and waking up to write exams. I was confused, and I guess that’s why I didn’t perform as well as my parents wanted me to. So I’m disappointed with myself for failing to compose myself under such stressful circumstances, and I’m angry with JAMB for risking the lives of children and also jeopardizing their futures.
‘The system should be changed if the government truly wants a bright future for young people like me,’ the teenager said.
The dangers surrounding long-distance travel for examinations became even more apparent following the abduction of candidates travelling to Otukpo.
Eight UTME candidates were reportedly among 18 passengers kidnapped from a Benue Links bus along the Taraku-Otukpo axis on April 15, 2026. They were later rescued after four days in captivity following sustained security operations.
One of the victims, 18-year-old Gbile Daniels, recounted the ordeal.
‘They collected my N8,000. They beat us, and we didn’t eat anything, only drank dirty water,’ he said.
Another victim, Akor Jessica, described severe torture during captivity.
‘It was a nightmare. What we went through was too much. We were on our way to write our exams. They beat me with big sticks and machetes at will, but God saw us through,’ she said.
A relative of two abducted victims, Ochadgwuba Alexander, said the kidnappers initially demanded N10 million for each captive.
‘It was a nightmare for us. The kidnappers demanded N10 million for each victim,’ he said.
According to him, he eventually delivered 3.430 million alongside food supplies to secure their release.
The incident further highlighted the risks candidates and families increasingly face simply to participate in the examination process.
In Edo State, parents also described heavy financial commitments associated with preparing children for the UTME.
Abdul Momoh said tutorial lessons alone consumed a significant portion of his income.
‘I had to enroll her in a JAMB lecture on a monthly fee of N20,000, and she attended the lecture for three months. And I was also paying the transport fare of N1,200 daily except on Sunday.’
Calls for reform are growing louder
Parents, candidates, and education stakeholders are demanding more CBT centers at the community level, improved electricity and internet infrastructure, lower registration-related costs, and stronger integration of computer-based learning into secondary schools.
There are also growing appeals for greater transparency in CBT center operations and improved security arrangements for candidates traveling long distances.
Until such reforms are implemented, millions of Nigerian families will continue to bear costs that extend far beyond the amount printed on the UTME registration form.