WAEC’s 2025 Review, and the Rot We’re Still Not Talking About -By Aku Uche Henry Jr

I was one of many voices that rose—strong, direct, and deliberate—during the recent public outcry that led to the review of the 2025 WASSCE results in Nigeria. I wrote. I challenged. I pressed. I even suggested legal action. But now that the dust has settled, I feel compelled to speak, not in protest this time, but in reflection.

To be clear, I didn’t join the campaign because I believed the students deserved to pass. No. This was not a sympathy parade. Rather, I joined because truth—unfashionable as it is these days—matters. If Mr. Aku is a known thief, and there’s a theft, should we arrest him before asking whether he actually stole this time? Justice must not be presumptive. Process must remain sacred. That’s the society we say we want, no?

The real scandal of 2025 wasn’t just the error. It was the response to the error. I had heard rumours that the English papers were compromised almost two weeks before the exam. I dismissed them—until a simple Google search unveiled all three leaked English papers along with their solutions, hosted both freely and behind paywalls. I was shocked, but more disappointed. Yet, WAEC did not cancel or postpone. Instead, what we witnessed was a hasty change in exam schedule, chaotic midnight updates, confusion in exam centres, and a performance drop so dramatic it would have made a Nollywood scriptwriter blush.

But through all that mess, a bright spot: WAEC’s Facebook response to my furious official message. It was disarming. Very brief. Measured. Mature. You know those moments when someone speaks with such restraint and clarity that you instinctively respect the mind behind it? That was one of them. And for that, I won’t drag WAEC any further on this episode.

Still, we must admit: a result review is a stain—one that should never reappear. In a single academic year, JAMB and WAEC both faced major integrity crises. Is this a reflection of the current administration? Perhaps. But the deeper issue is cultural, not just political.

Let us compare ourselves honestly with Ghana.

In terms of pass rates, Nigeria has done better in recent years—at least numerically. Our 2023 results showed nearly 80% of students passing five subjects including English and Mathematics, compared to Ghana’s 73% in English and 62% in Maths. But numbers can lie flatter than WAEC answer sheets. The perceived value of WAEC results from Ghana is still higher. Even here in Nigeria, when employers and institutions see a Ghanaian WASSCE certificate, they assume greater integrity. And who can blame them?

While exam malpractice is now creeping into Ghana’s system—data shows their malpractice rate jumped to 13.6% in 2024—the general cultural attitude there still leans toward academic honesty. In Nigeria, malpractice has become an ecosystem: parents fund it, schools facilitate it, and supervisors sometimes turn blind eyes for the right fee. What used to be the exception is now the rule. Worse, honest students are the ones who suffer. They are seen as naïve or rebellious, not exemplary.

It wasn’t always this way.

I graduated from secondary school in 2000. Our WAEC did not leak. Our teachers didn’t promote shortcuts. Parents were more likely to bribe you with beans and plantain to read, not with cash to cheat. Failing an exam was part of life. You tried again—maybe two or three times—until you had a result you could build a future on. Now? A student who fails WASSCE just once feels like a national embarrassment. So the pressure trickles down, then spills over into systemic rot.

How can we change this?

Forget CBT and serialization. If those were the silver bullets, the IGCSE and Cambridge O-Level would have adopted them wholesale. They haven’t. Why? Because in more accountable societies, parents don’t pressure teachers to cheat, and schools don’t see malpractice as a marketing strategy.

WAEC must build a new culture—intentionally.

Here are a few ideas:

Train and pay supervisors well. Make the position competitive. Even allow qualified private tutors to apply.

Introduce a qualifying exam and refresher courses for supervisors. Don’t recycle compromised invigilators year after year.

Be mobile and unpredictable. If there are flashpoints for malpractice, show up. Investigate on the ground, not from air-conditioned offices.

Place moles in schools with over 50 candidates. Equip them. Record malpractice live. Yes, it will be a national disaster, but it will spark the national cleansing we need.

Withdraw approvals from schools that cross the line. Make examples. Spare none.

Until WAEC becomes deliberately disruptive in its integrity drive, it will continue to mop a leaking floor while ignoring the dripping ceiling. Parents, teachers, and invigilators must all be retrained—not just procedurally, but culturally. We must believe again that failure is not fatal, and that true success must be earned.

The mess of 2025 was regrettable. But perhaps it was also necessary. Perhaps it exposed what needed to be exposed. WAEC, your recovery was commendable, but going forward, never again.

We’re watching.

Aku, Uche Henry Jr
Port Harcourt, Rivers State