By Ade Adesokan
Exam fraud in Nigeria has become a deep-rooted crisis, threatening the foundation of education, integrity, and national development. From cyber-enabled cheating rings to compromised CBT centers, fraudulent practices are on the rise, undermining merit and hard work.
If left unchecked, this growing culture of dishonesty will erode academic credibility, produce unqualified graduates, and weaken the nation’s workforce. Tackling this menace requires decisive action, strict enforcement of anti-cheating policies, and a collective effort from educators, parents, and government to restore integrity in Nigeria’s examination system.
The Federal Government’s announcement of a stringent three-year examination ban for students caught cheating represents a significant escalation in Nigeria’s fight against academic malpractice, yet the timing of this policy reveals a troubling irony when considered alongside recent incidents that exposed the deplorable conditions under which students are expected to demonstrate their academic integrity. This policy, unveiled by Education Minister Dr. Olatunji Alausa, demonstrates a commendable zero-tolerance approach that could potentially restore credibility to Nigeria’s examination system, but the recent West African Senior School Certificate Examination disasters and the persistent underfunding of education highlight fundamental infrastructure failures that make the government’s punitive approach appear disconnected from the realities facing Nigerian students.
The integration of the National Identification Number system to track and enforce bans across all examination bodies shows sophisticated policy coordination that has been lacking in previous anti-malpractice efforts, yet this technological advancement stands in stark contrast to the basic infrastructure failures that recently forced students to write their examinations in complete darkness. A disturbing video that emerged from the 2025 WASSCE captured students taking their English Language paper at 9:42 p.m., relying on lanterns and mobile phone flashlights for illumination at an examination center where electricity had failed. The cross-referencing capability through NIN creates a comprehensive database that makes it nearly impossible for offenders to escape consequences, but one must question the fairness of applying such stringent measures when the examination environment itself compromises student performance through no fault of their own.
The recent WASSCE incidents paint a disturbing picture of systemic failure that undermines the very foundation upon which examination integrity policies are built. According to multiple reports, the English Language examination scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28, did not commence until midday in many centers. In some locations, the final papers did not start until nightfall, with students in Lagos reportedly still writing as late as 11:45 p.m. under torchlight. The crisis extended beyond isolated incidents, with students in parts of Benue State forced to take their WASSCE in complete darkness, relying on phone torches and lanterns to complete the objective section of their English paper on Wednesday night. The ordeal in Benue began after students had finished writing the essay component, only to be left waiting for hours for the exam officer to arrive with the objective section, with delays lasting until around 8-9 p.m. in some centers, pushing the exam completion time to as late as 11 p.m. These conditions represent a fundamental violation of basic examination standards and raise serious questions about whether students can be held to the highest standards of academic honesty when the system itself fails to provide even basic amenities like electricity and proper scheduling.
The government’s recognition that institutional complicity often enables individual malpractice, as evidenced by the targeting of so-called “miracle centres,” is commendable, but the WASSCE darkness incidents reveal that institutional failure extends far beyond deliberate malpractice to include basic administrative incompetence and infrastructure neglect. The directive to automatically derecognize Computer-Based Test centres across all examination bodies when one body identifies malpractice creates a unified deterrent system, yet this same coordination appears absent when addressing the fundamental logistical failures that force students to write examinations under impossible conditions.
The broader context of Nigeria’s education funding reveals the deep-rooted nature of these systemic failures. While the 2025 education budget saw a substantial 96.6% increase from ₦1.79 trillion in 2024 to ₦3.52 trillion, this apparent windfall masks a more troubling reality about the country’s commitment to educational development. Despite this dramatic increase, education funding still accounts for only 7.3% of the total national budget, falling well short of the UNESCO-recommended 15-20% allocation for education. This chronic underfunding has historically plagued Nigeria’s education sector, with allocations rarely exceeding 10% of the total budget, creating a foundation of infrastructural decay that no amount of punitive measures can address.
The legal foundation for the anti-malpractice measures appears robust, drawing from both the JAMB Act and the Examination Malpractices Act of 1999 was enacted to criminalize and penalize various forms of exam fraud. It outlines strict punishments for offenses such as cheating, stealing question papers, impersonation, and forgery of results.
Cheating during examinations is punishable by up to three years imprisonment or a fine of one hundred thousand naira. Candidates caught stealing or tampering with exam materials face similar penalties. Writing an exam on behalf of another person is a criminal offense, and producing or using fake certificates is punishable under the Act. Teachers, invigilators, and exam body employees involved in malpractice face four years imprisonment without the option of a fine.
The Act was designed to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s education system, but enforcement remains a challenge due to corruption and loopholes in the examination process. However, the law seems silent on the government’s obligation to provide conducive examination environments that match the substantial financial resources theoretically available.
The involvement of security agencies including the Nigeria Police and Department of State Services signals serious intent to pursue criminal prosecution alongside administrative sanctions, yet no similar urgency appears to exist for addressing the infrastructure deficits that compromise examination integrity from an entirely different angle, despite the significantly increased budget allocation that should theoretically enable such improvements.
The public response to the WASSCE darkness incidents has been appropriately outraged, with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar criticizing the situation as a “national disgrace” where Nigerian students were forced to sit for examinations in dark and unfit conditions. This characterization captures the fundamental contradiction in the government’s approach, which appears more focused on punishing students for examination malpractice than ensuring the basic conditions necessary for fair examination conduct, despite having nearly doubled the education budget.
The Federal Ministry of Education’s response has been reactive rather than preventive, with the ministry describing similar incidents as “totally unacceptable” and pledging to work with state governments and WAEC to investigate matters and take corrective action only after widespread public outcry. Students at Unity Secondary School in Asaba, Delta State, were among those forced to write their WASSCE papers under poor lighting conditions, with video evidence showing students sitting for the exam in a poorly lit classroom with a single torchlight providing the only source of light, while similar reports emerged from multiple centers across Benue State and other locations throughout the country.
The persistence of such basic infrastructure failures in the face of a ₦3.52 trillion education budget raises serious questions about budget implementation, administrative efficiency, and priority allocation within the education sector. The dramatic budget increase should theoretically enable comprehensive infrastructure upgrades, including reliable power supply systems, generator backups and improved examination facilities, yet the reality on the ground suggests that increased allocations alone cannot address systemic administrative and infrastructural challenges without corresponding improvements in implementation capacity and accountability mechanisms.
The socioeconomic implications of both the punitive measures and the infrastructure failures deserve careful consideration within the context of this substantial budget increase. A three-year ban effectively removes young people from the formal education pathway during crucial developmental years, potentially pushing them toward alternative routes that may not serve their long-term interests or the nation’s human capital development goals. Similarly, forcing students to write examinations in darkness with mobile phone flashlights creates an inherently unfair advantage for those with better devices or longer battery life, effectively introducing a new form of socioeconomic discrimination into the examination process. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds may be disproportionately affected by both the harsh penalties and the infrastructure failures, as they often lack access to quality preparation resources and reliable technology that would help them navigate these challenging conditions.
The government’s alignment with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda suggests both the anti-malpractice policy and the broader educational reforms are part of governance initiatives aimed at restoring integrity to public institutions, but the juxtaposition reveals a troubling disconnect between budgetary rhetoric and implementation reality. While the emphasis on merit and credibility reflects recognition that compromised examination systems undermine the entire educational enterprise and ultimately Nigeria’s competitive position in the global economy, the WASSCE incidents demonstrate that systemic failures can compromise merit just as effectively as deliberate malpractice, regardless of budget allocations.
The substantial budget increase to N3.52 trillion should theoretically enable comprehensive addressing of the poor infrastructure, lack of essential facilities and overcrowded classrooms that have historically plagued primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
However, the continued occurrence of basic failures like power outages during crucial examinations suggests that budget allocation alone cannot solve deep-seated administrative and infrastructural challenges without corresponding improvements in implementation mechanisms, oversight systems and accountability frameworks.
From an implementation perspective, the success of anti-malpractice policies will depend heavily on the capacity of examination bodies to maintain basic standards of examination conduct while detecting malpractice consistently and fairly. The recent WASSCE incidents suggest that before focusing exclusively on detecting and punishing malpractice, there is an urgent need to address the fundamental logistics of examination administration that should be readily achievable with the current budget allocation. Students cannot be expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity when the system itself fails to provide basic necessities like adequate lighting, proper scheduling and conducive examination environments, particularly when substantial financial resources are theoretically available to address these issues.
The international dimension cannot be ignored, as Nigerian qualifications are recognized globally and the recent incidents of students writing examinations in darkness have garnered international attention that damages the reputation of Nigerian education far more effectively than any malpractice scandal. While improvement in examination integrity could enhance the international reputation of Nigerian education and have positive spillover effects for Nigerian students seeking opportunities abroad, the fundamental failures in examination administration create equally serious credibility problems that undermine the country’s overall human capital development objectives, despite the significant financial resources allocated to address these very issues.
The call for stakeholder involvement, including parents, teachers, and students, in reporting suspected malpractice attempts to create a culture of accountability, but the WASSCE incidents suggest that accountability must begin with the examination bodies themselves and extend to the effective utilization of the dramatically increased education budget. Before asking community members to report malpractice, the government must demonstrate its own commitment to maintaining basic examination standards that ensure fairness and dignity for all candidates and more importantly, must show that the substantial budget increases are translating into tangible improvements in examination infrastructure and administration.
The West African Examinations Council’s subsequent apology for the examination mishaps acknowledges the severity of the situation, but apologies cannot undo the psychological trauma and potential academic disadvantage experienced by students forced to write crucial examinations under such deplorable conditions. The organization’s promise of investigation and reform must be measured against concrete improvements in infrastructure and administrative capacity rather than mere policy pronouncements, particularly given the substantial financial resources that should be available through the increased education budget to prevent such failures.
The Ministry of Education’s reaffirmation of its zero-tolerance stance on examination malpractice, as expressed by Director of Press and Public Relations Mrs. Folasade Boriowo, emphasizes deep concern over the persistent erosion of academic integrity and its threat to Nigeria’s human capital development. However, this concern must be balanced with equal attention to how infrastructure failures and administrative incompetence also erode academic integrity by creating unfair examination conditions, especially when substantial budget increases should theoretically enable comprehensive solutions to these systemic problems.
The dramatic increase in education funding from ₦1.79 trillion to ₦3.52 trillion represents a significant policy commitment that should enable transformative improvements in educational infrastructure, examination facilities and administrative capacity. However, the persistence of basic failures like power outages during examinations suggests that budget allocation alone cannot address the complex web of administrative, infrastructural and capacity challenges that plague Nigeria’s education system. The continued underfunding relative to UNESCO recommendations, with only 7.3% of the national budget allocated to education despite the increase, indicates that even substantial improvements may be insufficient to address decades of neglect and underinvestment.
While the government’s tough stance on examination malpractice is necessary and reflects genuine commitment to educational reform, the ultimate test will be whether this approach is balanced with equal commitment to ensuring that examinations are conducted under conditions that make academic integrity both possible and meaningful, particularly given the substantial financial resources now theoretically available. The three-year ban represents a bold policy experiment that could either transform Nigeria’s examination culture or create unintended consequences that undermine its stated objectives, but its credibility depends entirely on the government’s parallel commitment to addressing the systemic failures that compromise examination integrity through poor administration rather than deliberate cheating.
Success will require not just rigorous enforcement of anti-malpractice measures but also effective utilization of the increased budget allocation to ensure immediate and sustained investment in examination infrastructure, reliable power supply, generator backup systems, proper scheduling protocols and administrative competence that ensures students can demonstrate their knowledge under fair and dignified conditions. The policy’s effectiveness will ultimately be measured not only by its impact on deliberate malpractice but also by its contribution to genuine improvement in educational quality and examination standards that address both intentional misconduct and systemic failures.
The WASSCE darkness incidents serve as a sobering reminder that examination integrity is compromised not only by student malpractice but also by systemic failures that make mockery of the entire educational assessment process, regardless of budget allocations. Until both challenges are addressed with equal urgency, competence and effective resource utilization, Nigeria’s examination system will continue to fail the very students it claims to serve and protect. The government’s call for national action to preserve merit and credibility in the education system must therefore encompass comprehensive reform that addresses infrastructure deficits, administrative capacity, and institutional accountability alongside student discipline and anti-malpractice enforcement, with clear mechanisms for ensuring that the substantial budget increases translate into tangible improvements in educational delivery and examination administration.
Addressing these multifaceted challenges requires a sophisticated approach that extends beyond simple budget increases to encompass diversified funding strategies and improved resource management systems. While the government’s commitment to increasing budget allocation represents a positive step toward the UNESCO-recommended 15-20% of the national budget for education, achieving sustainable improvement demands exploring alternative funding mechanisms that can complement government investment. The integration of grants, subsidies, and debt financing options provides pathways for expanding educational resources beyond the constraints of national budget limitations, particularly through partnerships with international organizations like UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education that already provide financial assistance to Nigeria’s education sector.
The potential for public-private partnerships offers particularly promising opportunities for bridging funding gaps through corporate investment in education infrastructure, technology grants, and scholarship programs that can directly address the systemic failures evident in recent examination disasters. Encouraging private sector engagement through educational foundations and targeted investment programs could provide the consistent, long-term funding necessary to maintain reliable power supply systems, upgrade examination facilities, and implement comprehensive administrative reforms that prevent the kind of basic failures that force students to write examinations in darkness.
However, the most critical factor in transforming Nigeria’s education system may be improving resource management and ensuring efficient utilization of allocated funds through enhanced accountability mechanisms and reduced corruption. The persistence of basic infrastructure failures despite substantial budget increases suggests that mismanagement and inefficient resource allocation pose greater threats to educational development than simple underfunding. Implementing robust oversight systems, transparent procurement processes, and performance-based budget allocation could maximize the impact of existing resources while building the administrative capacity necessary to effectively utilize additional funding from diversified sources.
Community and philanthropic support represents another vital component of sustainable education funding, particularly through local businesses and wealthy individuals contributing to educational foundations, scholarship programs, and school improvement projects that can address immediate infrastructure needs while building long-term community investment in educational quality. The integration of educational technology offers cost-effective solutions for learning delivery, particularly in underserved areas where traditional infrastructure development may be challenging, while also providing innovative approaches to examination administration that could prevent the kind of logistical failures that compromise academic integrity.
The success of these diversified funding approaches depends ultimately on their integration with comprehensive policy reforms that address both the punitive aspects of examination malpractice and the systemic failures that create conditions conducive to academic dishonesty. Until Nigeria develops sustainable, multi-source funding mechanisms coupled with effective resource management systems, the cycle of inadequate infrastructure, compromised examination conditions and reactive punitive measures will continue to undermine the very educational integrity the government seeks to protect.
Adesokan is a public affairs commentator
