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Thursday, January 18, 2018

The North Is Least Criminal. Why? - Reuben Abati

"We considered the report on every affected centre on a case-by-case basis, with each Chief Examiner responding to further enquiries, and at the end, the meeting resolved that 48 centres involved in extortion and malpratices should be delisted, while 24 centres should be suspended for a year. The statistics on 2017 UTME malpractice is noteworthy. Most of the affected states are from the South East and South South as follows:
Abia (381 cases),
Imo (193),
Anambra (152),
Enugu (114),
Cross River (78),
Ebonyi (48),
Akwa Ibom (44)
States with the lowest number of cases are from the North viz:
Kebbi (1),
Kaduna (16),
Kano (29)
Katsina (2),
Kogi (7)
Sokoto (25),
Taraba (4),
Zamfara (1).
Yobe (0)
Jigawa (0)
Abati is asking: "Could it be then that students and CBT operators in the North are more honest than their Southern counterparts, or perhaps less computer savvy? Does the 2017 UTME say anything about national character?"
My Take:
Well the figures would have meant better if they were given in percentages. Nevertheless, we thank JAMB for revealing the arithmetic in our criminology. Abati too should be applauded for his honesty.
The disparity in statistics will be the same when you consider other crimes like armed robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking, baby factories, fake drugs and spare parts, certificate forgery, etc. Abati has more homework to do. Let him show us the percentage, by state also, of Nigeriams convicted of crimes overseas.
Tired of accusations in southern press that Northerners are corrupt, in 2010 I published a detailed analysis of the monies in cases brought before our high courts by the EFCC. Only 6% of the N1.3 trillion involved could be attributed to Northerners. The silence that followed was deafening. It is not at all surprising why the North does not have banks and plenty certificates. To progress too, northerners deserve a bigger share of these crimes.
Well, not much to celebrate, anyway, for the North has a good measure of petty criminals like Fulani kidnappers (lol) who collectively do not amount to Evans alone. But statistics like these tell one fact: The North - from Kogi to Jigawa - is not the worst criminal in the country. Someone else is. He is free to carry his cheating and quit. Good riddance.
Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
28 June, 2017

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