Earlyface

NEC accepts, cancels certificates By Gabriel Dike NO fewer than 25 former candidates who sat for either
the school or privates examinations conducted by the
West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and are born
again Christians have returned their certificate claiming it
was acquired through fraudulent means.

Sunday Sun learnt that the affected born again former
candidates in obeying the Christian doctrine of seeking
for restitution, approached WAEC, through letters and
personal visits to the council, seeking for restitution after
they had confessed how they acquired their certificates
when they wrote the examinations at various periods.
A senior staff of WAEC disclosed that the council wrote to
the candidates explaining what they were ex-pected to do
which is to return the certificates in accordance with the
rules and regulations guiding the conduct of the
examinations.
Investigations revealed that those who complied with the
directive returned their certificates to various WAEC
offices nationa wide, and the council took their cases to
the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), which met
recently in Lagos and cancelled the returned 25 certificates.

The one-page WAEC document revealed that the returned
certificates by the born again Christians are for both the
May/June (school exam) and November/December
(private candidates) West African Senior School Certificate
Examination (WASSCE).
Breakdown of the year
the examinations were taken revealed that the oldest
certificates dates back to June 1980 with certificates dated
1986 for Nov/Dec with certificates nos NGPO497232 and
NGO 442267 and three obtained in 1989, all for school
examinations with certificates nos NGPO 1004584, NGPO
823128 and NGO 1002145.
In the1993 Nov/Dec exam, two candidates sought
restitution and returned their certificates, while 1994,
1997,1999, 2000, 2006, 2008,and 2009, one person each
returned their certificates. In 2001, three did so, in 2003
(two), 2004 (three) and in the May/June school
examinations, two candidates returned their certificates
Seventeen of former WAEC candidates that returned their
certificates wrote the May/June West African Senior
School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) and eight sat
for the Nov/Dec WASSCE.
A former principal and now proprietor of Royal Academy
International, Oshodi, Mr. Olatunji Ogunmode,
commended the candidates for seeking restitution after
many years of acquiring the certificates, and urged
several others to obey the Biblical command. Ogunmode
warned other candidates in future
WAEC exams to stay clear of examination malpractices,
noting that if they were not caught in the classroom for
exam fraud, nemesis would certainly catch up with them,
no matter how long it takes.
Pastor Miracle Wisdom said the 25 former WAEC
candidates by returning the certificates they acquired
wrongly are obeying the Christian doctrine by seeking for
restitution, and that no matter how long it took them to
come forward, their past sins are forgiven.
Wisdom was however silent on what happens to higher
certificates the 25 candidates used the WAEC certificates
to acquire, nothing “the most important thing is that they
came forward to admit how they passed their exams. It is
a welcome development, it would make others not to
engage in exam fraud.’’
The pastor said there are several verses in the Bible to
support restitution which conform to what the 25 born
again Christians did by confessing their sins and seeking
for restitution from WAEC. John 1:9 says ‘’If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’’.
While Number 5:6-7 says ’’When a man or woman
commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking
faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, he
shall confess his sin that he has committed.[a] And he
shall make full restitution for his wrong.’’