Kenny Ogunmiloro, General Manager of Blast FM Ibadan, has attributed the alarming mass failure in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to the growing obsession with social media among Nigerian youths.
Speaking on-air, Ogunmiloro expressed deep concern over the decline in academic performance, pointing to platforms like TikTok, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook as key distractions.
“Check the data over the past 15 years the number of students scoring below 200 keeps rising,” he said. “It’s not hard to see why. Our children now prioritize social media trends over studying. Education no longer holds any excitement or value for many of them.”
Ogunmiloro lamented the shift in focus among students, noting that teenagers aged 15 to 20 now devote more energy to creating viral content and following online influencers than to their academic pursuits.
“An average Nigerian student today spends hours online arguing with people old enough to be their parents, instead of reading their books,” he stated.
“Go to malls like Palms or Shoprite on weekends and you’ll see the crowd of young people who should be preparing for exams. This explains the poor results.”
He didn’t spare parents either, accusing many of failing to monitor or guide their children. “Parents are too focused on hustling for food and shelter. They’ve left the responsibility of upbringing entirely to chance.”
Ogunmiloro also raised concerns about the quality of teachers and teaching methods, suggesting that the challenges facing the education sector are layered and urgent.
Quoting Nelson Mandela, he concluded, “If education is truly the most powerful weapon to change the world, then we should all be alarmed at the current state of Nigeria’s education system.”
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