Nigeria’s varying policies may not be helping young people. Indeed, it is really strange news that Zamfara State owes the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) N1.6 billion as examination fees for students sponsored by the state for WAEC exams. WAEC’s tactic to recover the money is unfortunate: withhold the results until the students’ government pay.
Why it is a revelation that one could write WAEC on debt (never knew that was possible), WAEC should not punish these students. Rather, it has to get a “post-dated” cheque from the state so that the next allocation from Abuja is deducted for WAEC until the debt is fully settled.
Simply, punishing the students by withholding the results is not fair since WAEC willingly entered into this strange arrangement with the state government. So, WAEC must return back to Zamfara and the other 7 states and retake the exams on debt collection. Right now, it has an F9 but it can retry for a possible P8!
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But the students should not be penalized as some may be getting ready to enroll into universities only to be told that their WAEC results cannot be released because some politicians did not do their jobs. That said, the ex-governor who under his supervision “Zamfara did not present any candidate for this year’s WASSCE” should not be appointed a minister of education since he made the current ministerial list in Nigeria. Keep him away from education, please.
Zamfara State Government has explained the reasons the N1.6 billion debt owed to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) cannot be paid immediately.
WAEC had on Monday announced that the government of eight states in Nigeria have unpaid debts from registration fees of candidates they willingly sponsored to take part in its examination over some years.
The Head of Nigeria’s Office of WAEC, Patrick Areghan, while addressing a briefing to announce the release of the results of the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, disclosed that candidates from eight states owing the examination body will not be able to access their results until the states pay up.
Though Mr Areghan did not reveal the identities of all the indebted states, he noted that “Zamfara and Niger states are the highest debtors.”
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Comment 1: This has been a political strategy by past and present governors, where they boast and even include in their record of achievements, that they made education free including WAEC exams for their people.
In the early 2000s, when this strategy came about, WAEC repaid the schools that owed them with a WHOOPING OUTSTANDING SERIAL F9s to almost 97% of the students.
It was SPECTACULAR to behold then because ICT had not progressed like today as WAEC results were pasted on the school notice board for all your juniors to view and laugh their ‘OLODO’ seniors to scorn.
Broadsheets of F9s littered the whole board.
It is a shame that politicians use this as a strategy to score cheap political points. And it is more shameful that WAEC has allowed themselves to be scammed all these years just for favoritism with politicians.
Comment 2:Imagine what that ex-governor will do as a minister? We are reaping the harvest of cronyism and corruption on a massive scale. I just hope the student will not have to wait for too long before this is resolved.
Comment 3: It is really agonizing seeing how education is treated with such disdain. WAEC should cancel the arrangement of taking examination on credit. Our politicians are oftentimes irresponsible. If you ask the governor, he will tell you that the problem didn’t start with his government but can’t his government make sure that it does not create more problems? As you have said the debt should be taken from their federal allocation in installments. Punishing the students by not releasing the results to them is not fair. The government that promised to pay should be made to honour her word.
Comment 4: On the other hand, I think we should shine our torchlight more on the quality of education in Northern Nigeria especially the core areas. The deep poverty level in the north is just a reflection of the Educational system…and this loophole is a major setback for the nation at large, as some microscopic few continue to exploit their vulnerabilities and gullibility due to lack of basic education. Beyond WAEC what steps do we need to take to ensure quality and relevant learnings in Northern Nigeria?omment 5:
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But we are in democracy, the democracy that degrades and dehumanizes people must be protected at all cost, because the military guys are bad, and crappy politicians are better. Yea, that’s how the argument goes, because when you have fraudsters promoting a thing, you don’t need to be told that it’s never about public good but rather special interests.
Can the students in those states pay for themselves, or they don’t have money? Because if they don’t have money, I don’t know what needing the withheld results for university admission means, one who cannot pay for WAEC obviously cannot pay for university education. Something is not right in all of these.
If basic education is made compulsory by the constitution, it will mean that the states cannot be charged with taking care of their students, rather it should be frontline deduction before any other money hits the states accounts; it should not be up for negotiation or deliberation.
Again, the very ex-governor from Zamfara that failed even in things buffoons succeed in, what business does such creature still have with public service, to the extent of getting nominated as minister of the federal republic? These creatures deliberately provoke and insult our collective intelligence.
The holding of result from Niger state affects only we the poor because our leaders train there children outside and have nothing to do with us and this decision affects us strongly imagine after passing entrance exam and interview Waec results will turn out to be a set back on me, please our leaders should solve this problem because it really hurting
I think even waec itself hasn’t settled the supersivors who worked for the body during the just concluded waec 2023