Mental health professionals are calling for a more comprehensive approach towards supporting students under examination pressure following the death of a 19-year-old girl in Lagos who reportedly took her life after receiving her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results on Monday,
Identified by neighbors as Timilehin, the late teenager was described as quiet, humble, and full of potential.
Timilehin, who was reported to have hailed from Abeokuta, Ogun State, was living with her elder sibling in Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State, when she took her life after she was said to have scored 190 in the just-released 2025 UTME results which she believed was lower than her previous score from last year.
Many community members expressed grief and blamed the examination body for the incident, while mental health experts urged for a collective response to students’ wellbeing.
Tuesday, Michael Jacob, a psychotherapist and founder of Emotion Compass Academy, emphasized that a student’s academic performance should never be equated with their self-worth.
To every student struggling right now under the weight of disappointment, please understand: your value is not defined by a number on a result slip.
“The UTME is only one doorway out of many. If that door closes, another will open—but you must still be here to walk through it,” Jacob said.
He stressed the importance of separating academic failure from personal identity, warning the student “not to confuse” their performance with their intelligence.
“Failing a test does not mean you are a failure. It means you are human. It means you tried. And it means you are still learning. What you need in that moment is not punishment or self-hate but compassion and a plan,” he noted.
“When emotional pain becomes unbearable, the most important thing is not to suffer in silence. Speak to someone you trust—a counsellor, a therapist, a parent, or a teacher. Talking is not weakness. Asking for help is not failure. In fact, it is one of the strongest, bravest things you can do.”
A mental health psychologist, Patricia Udosen, also underscored the intense pressure students face during exams and how devastating unmet expectations could be.
She also encouraged students to process their emotions constructively and seek support when needed.
Addressing parents, Udosen called for empathy and reassurance, urging them to offer emotional support to their children.
Following widespread backlash from parents and students, JAMB announced on Monday that it was reviewing the recently released 2025 UTME results.
In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, the board said it was expediting its annual system review, a comprehensive post-mortem of the examination process, in response to the “significant volume of unusual complaints” received after the results were released on Friday.
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