The heart-wrenching story of Timilehin Opesusi, a 19-year-old Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate who tragically took her own life after receiving a disputed result, has ignited a national outcry over mental health and accountability in Nigeria’s education system.
Her father, Femi Opesusi, in an emotional interview with Channels Television, revealed that the money he had saved to send Timilehin to university was instead used to bury her.
“I told her not to worry, that I had kept her school fees intact,” he said, voice cracking with grief. “Now I’ve used the school fees to bury her.”
Timilehin, the fourth of eight children, had scored 190 in her 2024 UTME and was confident of doing even better in 2025. But on seeing her 2025 result, which showed a score of 146, she was devastated and repeatedly insisted, “Daddy, this is not my result.”
Despite her father’s assurances, she fell into despair. She later ingested a sachet of rodenticide and was rushed to the hospital by her elder sister, Opeyemi. “She regretted it. I could see it. She was fighting for her life,” Opesusi recounted.
Her death occurred amid widespread glitches that affected over 379,000 candidates during the 2025 UTME, leading to public outrage. On May 14, JAMB Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede admitted that a technical failure had impacted candidates across 157 centres, especially in Lagos and the South-East.
“We are human; we are not perfect,” Oloyede said, visibly emotional, as he announced a mop-up exam to correct the lapses.
JAMB observed a minute of silence for Timilehin, but her father said the gesture felt hollow, as no official from JAMB or any government agency had reached out to the family.
“They have never called me. They have never granted me an interview. They have never said anything to me,” he said. “I don’t want compensation. I just want to see my daughter’s actual result. That’s all.”
Timilehin, who had been learning hairdressing while awaiting admission to study Biochemistry, was described as brilliant, kind, and full of hope.
Her death has sparked renewed demands for transparency and reform in Nigeria’s exam and admissions systems, with many calling for better support structures for young Nigerians facing academic pressure and mental health challenges.
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