WAEC Recovers N2b From Debtor States

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Barely two months after the West African Examination Council (WAEC) alleged that 19 states were indebted to it to the tune of over N4bn, the organisation says so far it has recovered N2bn.

Making the revelation in Lagos, while playing host to education correspondents, Head of National Office (HNO), Mr. Charles Eguridu, said that the number of states that have responded so far has been very impressive.

The N4bn debt arose after some state governments abused the credit facility extended to them by the regional examination body. The facility was to cover entry fees for state government-sponsored candidates for previous edition of its flagship examination-the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

He said, “When we were finding it difficult to meet our financial obligations, particularly to our supervisors, examiners and service providers, we called on your organisations and you all responded. So far, of the over N4b owed to the council, much more than N2b have been paid.”

Eguridu, who frowned at the rate of moral decadence and corruption in the country, blamed political leaders for not showing good example, stressing that things have fallen apart due to lack of qualitative leadership in the country.

He said, “On daily basis many Nigerians are either flying to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. These places were deserts, but it took committed leadership to transform otherwise these otherwise hostile environments to what today can become the capital of the world.

“We cannot say we do not have resources or human capital; it is because we have not embraced qualitative leadership as a people. The culture of ignorance is being celebrated, the culture of corruption, tribalism, geo-ethnic politics has deprived us of the privilege of having qualitative leadership in our country.”

He continued, “You find Nigerians in their thousands exiting the country to other countries. It took Americans to make America what it is today. The Emiratis made United Arab Emirates what it is today. We can transform our country; we can change the circumstances we have found Nigeria if only we can exit ourselves from this geo-ethnic politics, the culture of accepting low quality and say no to mediocrity.”

Eguridu added, “It is our duty as citizens of this country, to change the little corner we find ourselves. I know the president and governors have their roles to play, but if we brighten the little corner where we are, and refuse to accept bribes… things will be better. If your corner is brightening, my corner is brightening then the community would see the light and gradually it would transcends to the entire nation.”

He regretted the height, which some parents have taken examination malpractices to, saying that the board was presently battling to extinguish what he described as organised examination malpractices. He expressed optimism that even in the face of this gloomy situation, the body was winning the war with the deployment of technology.

“As I bow out of office by December 2015, I assure you that with the help of my colleagues and the council, WAEC is the only examining board on the African continent that has a biometric enabled certificate. With this certificate, you cannot falsify it, we encrypt the biometric features of every candidate that writes the examination on quick response codes printed on the certificate such that when you even photocopy the certificate, it will dictate whether you are the person or not.”