Sometime in 2021, Engr Rapheal Adewale (not real name) proprietor of one of the top rate private secondary schools in the Akute axis of Ifo local Government Area of Ogun State was locked up inside one of the toilets of one private schools in the area where he had gone to supervise the years May/June West African School Certificate Examination. His presence in the school was to fulfil the agreement among proprietors of private secondary schools in the axis to interchange for supervision of the students both for good supervision and credibility of the examinations in the face of West African Examination Council,WAEC organisers of the 70 years old examination.
But on this fateful day, Engineer Adewale was locked up because he refused to cooperate with the school as usual to ‘assist ‘ the students in the exam hall. Acccordibg to him, the level of cheating was such that answers were sent directly to invigilators in the schools from WAEC office.
He also discover to his chagrin that almost all the private schools in the axis operates what students, parents call…special centres – examination centres where students are freely taught and in some cases provided written answers while WAEC invilators look the other way.
What you have is that both, school proprietors, supervisors and students and their parents smile when results are released in September. The proprietors and invigilators on their own also smile to the banks as parents pay special fees outside WAEC stipulated fees.
The recalcitrant Adebowale was only released from ‘detention’ after intervention by senior officials of the Ogun State ministry of education .
Adebowale’s experience is just a tip of the iceberg of what happens all over Nigeria where corruption has destroyed not only institutions but the foundation of the country’s educational system .
Seven years ago-2017/2017 academic session, the authorities of University of Ibadan expelled three hundred and 28 students for failure to obtain the minimal academic requirement in their respective courses.ostnof them are fresh students from secondary schools.
What this means to the university is that the higher grades paraded by the students in the WASC Examinations are not real thus it lacks intergrity. It also shows that the students could not defend or live up to what they claim to have and that the examinations that awarded them the certificates lacks intergrity . Obviously the examination has been compromised .
This development reinforced the premier university like Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Lagos and others to insist on conducting post university entrance examination to their school irrespective of what they score in Joint Admission Matriculation Board Exxamination.
They are also insisting that an average student should score 200 in JAMB to qualify to sit for their entrance examination.
In spite of this corruption of the system- as typified in the recent case of acclaimed 19 years old Mmesoma Joy Ejikeme, who after taking the parents and JAMB authorities through rigmarole, finally admitted she manipulated and forged her result having used her Android phone to adjust the result from her original score of 246 to 362.
This is obviously to dethrone the original top scorer Kamsiyochukwu Chinyere who scored 360.
It would be a surprise if Mmesoma has not done the same with her WASC result.
Today, in Nigeria if Mmesoma is so brilliant right from primary school as her shameless father has claimed, how come she didn’t leave secondary school at 16 as is common with average secondary school leavers today.
Unless detected, Mmesoma and some other dubious students will eventually ‘buy’their ways through the corrupted university system ,emerged with at least second class upper and one day sit atop a federal or state government agency where policies are formulated.
That is if she didn’t turn out to be another Alhaji Ahmed Idris, the suspended Accountant General of the Federation,AGF who helped himself with N101billion naira by compromising the ‘dubious’ Integrated Payment Payroll System IPPS.
It is painful, Idris performed his act at a time University lecturers shut down the nations ivory towers for nine months over non payment of salary structure and improving conditions of infrastructures of universities of which federal government agreed with the teachers 10 years back.
The rot in the examinations conducted by institutions in the country could also be better viewed from the compromise of the system with the active connivance of parents from all levels who in many ways aided the rot by using state institutions like the police and other law enforcement agents to cheat.
Again, education officials in Ministries and other institutions and allied parastatals also share part of the racket as they are part of compromising entrance examination to unity schools.
The scripture says if the foundation be wrong what can the righteous do.
And since righteousness exalts the nation,when righteousness itself is compromised, the result is rot in all facets of our national life.
Mmesomas boldness in manipulating the JAMB portal is an indication that corrupt leaders are recruited from young ages and eventually graduated to policy implementation managers.
What do you expect from such characters having themselves being a product of the system which has ironically elevated them to privileged status ?.
Yet,emotions have been expressed including its ridiculous ethnic colouration, the mischievious comments by uncouth citizens shows the level of debasement of our values and how difficult it would be to repair the systemic rot in all facets of our national life.
Had Mmesoma found her way,she would obviously have studied any of the medical or engineering courses by the courses she offered in UTME(Physics,Chemistry,Mathematics and English) and eventually graduate with the mindset which saw her through secondary school.
Characters like her are present all over..from customs to immigration, police to military , tax offices, revenue agencies, central bank,c ivil service of all professions and rent seekers who profit from the systemic decay.
A decay helped and nurtured by those who encouraged the likes of Mmesoma to thrive.
A typical example of the promotion of mediocrity occured at the nations National Space Agency.
On December 6,2020,Senator Ajayi Borofice, Deputy Senate Majority Leader of the ninth senate, revealed that the space agency that should be recruiting scientists and engineers are actually employing graduates of religious studies and other unrelated courses.
You then ask yourself, if going to space is about religion or what have you?.
The rot in the nations institutions in the past eight years is mind- boggling and an indication that a Mmesoma exists in all our institutions and national life.
When you recruit characters who compromised the system to get the certification for the job, then it should not surprise anyone who cares that such a fellow must compromise the system for him or her to retain the position.
It follows then that His or Her gain in such position is the nations loss!
Again,on the reward for brilliance occasioned by the genuine sterling performances of original highest scorer Chinyere-a student from the Deeper Life High School in Mower,Ogun state who actually scored highest mark of 360 until Mmesoma surfaced with her cooked up 362 mark,why did Mmesoma waited for so long to publish her score?.
On reward, one would have expected an upcoming institution like Innoson Motors to do due diligence moreso when Chinyere had initially been announced as highest scorer by JAMB or tarry awhile for proper verification after Mmesomas new claim.
Why the hurry in gleefully awarding schorlaship to the ‘crook’ in the girl.
Or was Innoson waiting for another ‘winner’ from it’s base in the South East before awarding the N2.5 million naira schorlaship.
As God will have it, Chinyere also hailed from the region so why the Innoson rush?
The company’s conduct put to test the intergrity in the Innoson reward system if the companies action is not informed by ethnic sentiments.
That again portrays the Mmesoma in some of us and by extension our institutions.
While the admission and publication by the Enugu state government asking the girl to apologise to the nation,school and JAMB is commendable such should not be done by setting aside the due punishment already contained in appropriate law for examinations malpractises.
Allowing Mmesoma,to go with a ‘slap in the wrist ‘ punishment in lieu of JAMBs three years ban is trivializing the offence and by extension weakening the nations educational institution and by extension it’s future.
The Mmesoma affairs should provide an opportunity for our National assembly to enact strong legislations to strengthen institutions which is the bedrock of any progressive society.
Displaying emotions on gross violations of ethical standard is retrogressive of any society desirous of entroning values on its youths and national institutions.
