Victory At Last! WAEC Finally Releases Withheld Certificates After 5 years Of Seizure

Their joy knew no bounds as they filed into the school one after the other to collect their 2008 May/June SSSCE certificates which they said had long been “held hostage” by the West African Examination Council (WAEC). They were the students of Ogudu Senior Grammar School, Ojota, Lagos, whose results were invalidated four years after they were first released. In this report, captures their feelings as they laid their hands on the longawaited document that formed the foundation of their academic pursuits.

Acquiring their Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) certificates was a feat they no longer thought was achievable. In fact, their case became complicated when they discovered in 2012, four years after leaving Ogudu Senior Grammar School, Ojota, Lagos, that their 2008 May/June SSCE results had been invalidated by the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the same body that released the results earlier.

The battle suddenly shifted from how to procure their withheld certificates to how they could ensure WAEC first all revalidated their results, to save them from the looming problem of aborted dreams.

The invalidation of their results was reported by National Mirror of Thursday, February 28, 2012 where some of the students disclosed that they became aware of the development only when they were being screened ahead of their graduation from their various higher institutions of learning.

Almost a week after the report, WAEC suddenly made a U-turn and “surreptitiously” returned the invalidated results to its web page, thereby paving ways for the affected students to return to their schools and upheld the status quo ante. It was therefore a moment of fulfilment, satisfaction and joy, when they received the news that their certificates had been sent to the school and were ready for collection.

For instance, Sulaiman Ismail, a First Class fresh graduate of Computer Science Department of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, was dumbfounded when he learnt that he could now collect his certificate in the school. “All praises to God almighty, who crowned our efforts with this very big success, and to all those He has used to make it happen, especially one of our classmates’ father, Mr. Owoyemi for his persistence, and National Mirror newspaper that consistently voiced our cries to the world.

“We had lost all hopes before but now our hopes are alive. I am awaiting mobilisation for the NYSC programme but without the result, I could not imagine what would have happened to me because the issue almost gave me psychological problem,” Ismail said.

The Senior Prefect for the set and now a graduating student of Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Taiwo Adesanya, applauded the media for what he described as its powerful instrument of change. He also commended the school’s Vice-Principal, Alhaja Abimbola Adeniran, who he said became very passionate to resolve the issue.

The lady in their midst and a final year student of the Department of Computer Science, Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Nafisat Akinola, said before now, she was unsure of what could become of her future, “because even after the results were revalidated and without the certificates, I believed WAEC could still do anything, but with this, I think I am much more relieved.”

She said they were more than 300 candidates that wrote the exams in 2008 but that many did not use the result because they did not perform well and so were not bothered with whatever becomes the fate of the certificates.

Reliving her own experience while the struggle lasted, the school Vice-Principal said she was more determined to get to the roots of the whole matter because she was convinced WAEC had no case against the centre throughout the exam period.

“Although, I was away when the examination started, by the time I returned, they were yet to write English Language. So, on the day they sat for the paper, one of WAEC’s directors, Mr. Olaniyi, who was the external invigilator that day told me he was directed from the office to report at the school. And that was not strange to anybody as WAEC has the right to send any of it officials to any exam centres during the exercise.

So, there was no single incident that warranted even warning from him. That was why I was bothered when we were to collect our students’ certificates and told they were not ready. Such was quite unusual.

I became more disturbed when I learnt that the result had been cancelled again and that was when I became more determined to get to the roots of the matter. “While this issue lasted, I shed tears twice. The first time was when I had to climb the stairs from the ground to the ninth floor of the Nigeria head office of WAEC in Yaba, Lagos in pursuit of the certificates and the second time was when we were informed that the certificates were ready for collection,” Adeniran narrated.

She said her husband worked for about four years in WAEC before leaving for elsewhere and that she too, while in school, had holiday job experience in WAEC but never came across such issues of result cancelation after initial release. She commended Mr. Owoyemi and the National Mirror Newspaper for what she described as their daring insistence on seeking to get to the bottom of the issue.

“I am much more delighted than these children because I see this as a great achievement in my career life because as the Vice-Principal in charge of academics, the burden on me was to prove that everything went well before, during and after the examinations, and today, I am happy that our name is not soiled as a school and that our candidates can proceed to achieve their dreams and contribute to the betterment of this country in their individual capacities.

“I think the other parents should be thankful to Mr. Owoyemi for his efforts. He practically took the matter upon himself.

Schools are still on vacation but I chose to come around to personally handover the certificates to the owners. It is a joyful thing,” the VP added. In a telephone chat with Mr. Owoyemi, he said it was unfortunate that his schedule at work could not permit him to witness the certificate collection but said he directed his son, Tosin Owoyemi to travel down from Ekiti State University in Ado-Eki-ti, to join his mates to receive his certificate.

“My son is expected to be promoted to 400- level now but the circumstances surrounding the result has held him back in 200 level. In fact, I can say he was the most affected because he was denied the right to write his exam while in 200 level as a result of the invalidation of the result.

But today, we are glad that the war is over. We only appeal to WAEC and other examination bodies to always consider the effect of their actions or inactions before taking them. It had not been an easy thing for us as parents and for the candidates too,” Mr. Owoyemi stated