It was 9:45pm in Delta State. Teenagers hunched over desks, squinting at question papers under flickering phone flashlights. In Osogbo, a father stood guard outside an exam hall with a cutlass. Other parents, equally tense, clutched sticks and waited for their children to finish. What was supposed to be a national exam became a survival mission.
If WAEC now requires torchlights and weapons, what exactly are we doing?
What Really Happened?
This week, Nigerians were jolted by viral videos showing students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) English paper at night, in near-total darkness.
According to sources, students completed Oral English in the morning and were scheduled to sit for the essay and objective papers at 4pm. But hours passed with no exam. Eventually, WAEC officials showed up around 7pm, papers in hand.
The reason? A source inside WAEC admitted the original paper had leaked. In a scramble to protect the integrity of the exam, the council replaced the questions last-minute, causing the delay.
“My Husband Went With a Cutlass”
The delay became inconvenient as well as terrifying.
One mother recounted how her husband refused to let their daughter go alone. “He went with a cutlass and found other parents there too, all armed with sticks or blades,” she said. “They waited until the children finished and then walked home in groups.”
In Osogbo, students started at 7pm and ended at 9pm. In Ilaro and parts of Delta, the scene was similar: anxious parents outside, students writing exams inside with little to no power supply.
Some teachers lit up classrooms using their phone torches. Others simply watched helplessly. “We never planned to stay that late,” said one teacher. “This may lead to mass failure in Osun State.”
What Are We Doing to Our Children?
We’ve normalized dysfunction so deeply that we barely flinch when it shows up like this. But this time, it went too far.
Why wasn’t the exam postponed once the leak was confirmed?
Should students have been left to write in darkness, under pressure, and in unsafe conditions?
Why were families forced to provide their own security?
This was no longer an academic situation. It was a humanitarian one. Students were physically and emotionally unprepared for a high-stakes exam turned emergency drill. And for what? A system that still hasn’t apologized, let alone taken responsibility.
What This Moment Reveals
This disaster pulls back the curtain on Nigeria’s fragile exam culture. It shows just how ill-equipped WAEC and the education system are to respond to crises.
But it also shows something else: a demand for change. From parents who refused to stay silent. From students who pushed through. And from teachers who turned on their flashlights and kept going.
WAEC must see this not as a blip but a breaking point.
So, What Should Change Now?
To prevent a repeat of this national embarrassment, WAEC and the Ministry of Education must:
- Create clear response plans for exam leaks. Delay the exam, don’t endanger students.
- Equip all schools with emergency kits. Rechargeable lamps, backup batteries, and proper lighting should be non-negotiable.
- Ensure security partnerships. Schools shouldn’t rely on parents with machetes for protection.
- Communicate clearly and early. Inform principals, students, and parents when plans change.
WAEC issued a public apology this morning, acknowledging the mishandling of the exam delay and promising a better response in the future should a similar situation occur. But the damage is already done. Forcing students to write a crucial exam in the dark, late at night, under fear and anxiety is not just unfair, it’s a recipe for poor performance. No amount of apology can undo the emotional toll or the likely dip in results.
A System That Tests More Than Just Knowledge
These are 15- to 18-year-olds. Their only job was to show up and write an exam. Instead, they had to navigate fear, darkness, and delay all in the name of “standard procedure.”
Nigeria’s youth are already doing too much just to stay afloat, let’s not make national exams yet another trauma to survive.
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