Students Write WAEC Amid Blackout and Insecurity, Sparking Outrage

Nigerians on social media have expressed shock and anger after candidates in this year’s West African Examination Council (WAEC) exam were made to write their English paper parts II and III (objective and theory) under difficult conditions.

Videos have circulated showing students taking the exam in darkness, using torchlights and candles for visibility. The exam, originally scheduled to start at 4pm and end by the same time, instead began at 7pm and ended at 9pm.

Earlier, students completed Part I (Oral English) and awaited Parts II and III, which were supposed to begin at 4pm. However, WAEC officials only brought the papers into schools across the state at 7pm.

While WAEC has not officially explained the delay, a source claimed it was caused by a “leakage of the exam question paper.”

“We discovered that the students have seen the question, hence we need to change it. We hurriedly change the paper but it was late, and that is what caused them to start the examination late.” an examiner in Osun state said

A teacher, Jumoke Adedokun, said;

“It is a frustrating occurrence today, we never planned that we would stay that late but officials of WAEC insisted that the exam should be held today. We used phone torchlight to illuminate the hall today. There may be mass failure of the subject in Osun state due to this.

Many parents have been calling us about the whereabouts of their children, we had to explain to them about the change. We started the exam at 7pm and ended by 9pm.”

Videos shared online showed parents arriving at their children’s schools late at night, bringing food packs and water for their wards, who had been stuck in school all day due to the delayed exam.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have taken to social media to condemn the examination board, describing the situation as embarrassing.