The disturbing scenes that played out throughout several states throughout the continuous West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), where thousands of candidates were required to sit examinations late into the night due to the late arrival of examination products, represent yet another humiliating failure in the management of a crucial national workout.
What makes the situation even more unpleasant is that this is not the very first time such an event has occurred. A similar logistical breakdown was recorded during the 2025 WASSCE. The apparent concern Nigerians should be asking is: what occurred to the lessons that ought to have been learned from in 2015’s experience?
As one of Africa’s primary taking a look at bodies, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has a responsibility to continually improve its functional systems and guarantee the smooth conduct of examinations. It is unacceptable that in 2026, assessment materials are still coming to centres hours behind schedule, forcing candidates to endure unneeded stress and unpredictability.
The repercussions of these avoidable delays exceed simple inconvenience. Trainees who have prepared effectively for their evaluations become mentally exhausted after waiting constantly for concern papers. The anxiety, tiredness and aggravation connected with such hold-ups can considerably affect their concentration and overall efficiency. No candidate needs to be subjected to such conditions.
It is especially unfortunate that assessments indicated to assess academic proficiency are now being performed under conditions more fit to emergency scenarios. The image of trainees writing assessments in the evening under insufficient facilities paints a troubling photo of the state of Nigeria’s education system.
Contrasts with worldwide examination bodies even more expose the drawbacks in our system. Evaluations such as Cambridge Checkpoint and IGCSE, administered by Cambridge International Education (CIE), are carried out yearly for millions of trainees across the world without the recurring logistical obstacles that have ended up being associated with WASSCE in Nigeria. Examination products are usually provided to centres well ahead of schedule, while rigorous security measures ensure the stability of the process. Cases of prospects being pushed into nocturnal examinations due to administrative failures are virtually unusual.
This raises a basic concern: what exactly is Nigeria’s problem?
Beyond WAEC’s logistical shortcomings, the incident likewise exposes much deeper shortages within the country’s education facilities. Reports from some centres suggest inadequate electrical energy supply during the late-night examinations. This is a severe indictment of a system that has failed to offer fundamental finding out facilities in numerous public schools.
Schools are expected to enjoy reputable electricity to support teaching, discovering and the use of instructional products. Yet numerous organizations run without steady power. Even where public electrical energy is undependable, alternative solutions such as solar energy systems and standby generators ought to be readily available. The lack of such provisions reflects years of disregard and underinvestment in education.
The federal and state federal governments can not get away responsibility for this failure. The nocturnal evaluations seen during the ongoing WASSCE are symptomatic of a larger rot within the education sector– one that continues to weaken the knowing environment and the future of Nigerian trainees.
Given the extraordinary circumstances under which many prospects sat for these assessments, WAEC must seriously consider providing afflicted students with another chance to write the affected documents. A fresh assessment date would ensure that prospects are assessed under fair and conducive conditions instead of under the tiredness and mental strain triggered by hours of unneeded waiting.
Examinations are suggested to test knowledge, not endurance. Nigerian trainees should have much better than a system that consistently subjects them to preventable difficulty. Until WAEC addresses its recurring logistical failures and governments invest meaningfully in instructional infrastructure, occurrences such as these will continue to decrease public self-confidence in the nation’s examination process.
The 2026 nocturnal WASSCE must work as a wake-up call. Nigeria’s trainees are worthy of proficiency, effectiveness and dignity– not another year of excuses.