Sleep deserted my eyes after a deeply unsettling conversation with an elder I’ve long admired, someone I believed stood for truth, integrity, and justice.
But to my dismay, this person confessed to aiding her ward in cheating during the just concluded WAEC examination. She did so without remorse, rationalizing it as “what everyone else is doing”.
Disturbed, I reached out to other families and what I found was even more distressing.
Many admitted their children were given access to mobile phones throughout the exam period, the phones were used to receive and share leaked answers.
They even paid money to secure these “services.” What I once thought were isolated incidents now appear to be the norm.
The question that baffles me is this: Where is education heading in Nigeria? Education in Nigeria risks becoming:
- A transactional enterprise, not a transformational journey.
- A certificate-issuing industry, not a knowledge-acquisition process.
- A breeding ground for mediocrity, not a ladder for development.
The Erosion of Our Moral Compass
Cheating in exams is no longer seen as wrong by many. In fact, it is now normalized, institutionalized, and monetized. Parents, who should instill great values are now accomplices.
Teachers, exam officials, and school administrators either look the other way or actively collude. Sadly, students, from an early age, are taught that success is not earned but bought.
This is more than a crisis in education. It is a crisis of character, citizenship, and national development.
Have you ever thought the fact that; a Rotten Foundation builds Weak Structures?
The implication of widespread examination malpractice is evident in our tertiary institutions. Universities now admit students who:
- Lack foundational knowledge.
- Struggle academically.
- Resort to further cheating or academic dishonesty to survive.
This lowers the overall academic standard of tertiary institutions and breeds half-baked graduates who are unemployable, unmotivated, and unprepared for real-world challenges.
ASUU Must Lead, but It Cannot Act Alone
It is time we declared a national state of emergency on examination malpractice. As the academic union representing university lecturers nationwide (ASUU), with its weight and influence, must lead this movement not just for the future of higher education, but for the soul of our nation.
ASUU can:
- Lead national awareness campaigns against examination malpractice.
- Pressure government and examination bodies for policy reforms.
- Advocate for credible, technology-driven examination processes.
- Demand university admission processes that test for actual competence.
- Improve and standardize post-UTME screening.
- Advocate for aptitude-based and interview-styled admission systems.
- Also Introduce basic literacy/oral tests in certain disciplines.
- Universities should desist from lowering their JAMB cut off marks to accommodate failures
- The academic wing of the University must be responsible for admission of credible students not the administrative wing as practice now
However, ASUU cannot do it alone, other Bodies (PTAs, NUT, JAMB etc), must step up
1. National Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs)
- Must publicly denounce and campaign against parents’ involvement in malpractice.
- Organize parent education workshops on the dangers of malpractice on the future of the nation.
2. WAEC, NECO, and JAMB
- Must urgently embrace secure Computer-Based Testing (CBT) systems.
- Strengthen supervision and examination center security.
- Publish and enforce blacklists of corrupt centers.
3. Ministry of Education
- Launch a national anti-cheating policy with strict enforcement measures.
- Institute penalties for schools found aiding malpractice.
- Revise the curriculum to include ethics and character education.
4. Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT)
- Must address the complicity of teachers in exam fraud.
- Introduce ethics certification and whistleblower protection mechanisms for teachers who resist pressure.
5. Religious and Community Leaders
- Must use their platforms to promote moral accountability.
- Preach and teach that dishonest success is not success at all.
6. The Media
- Can play a powerful watchdog role by exposing exam fraud syndicates.
- Provide platforms for whistleblowers.
- Amplify stories of students and schools that excel through honest means.
7. Legislators
- Must revisit and strengthen laws related to examination fraud.
- Create deterrents for schools and exam bodies that aid cheating.
8. Support Legal Action against Culprits
- Criminalize parents and schools that facilitate malpractice.
- Increase strict penalties for corrupt WAEC/NECO officials.
- Establish a publicly accessible database of blacklisted centers.
We Are All Guilty
While ASUU and other bodies can champion the reforms, change must begin from the home. It is heartbreaking that parents, those meant to be the first moral compass and protectors of values, are now the ones funding, facilitating, and defending academic dishonesty.
Instead of modeling integrity, they normalize deceit. Rather than nurturing discipline, they invest in shortcuts.
In doing so, they are not just failing the system; they are failing their children, their faith, and their nation. What kind of future are we constructing when we teach our children to cheat their way through life?
In Islam, Allah warns clearly: “O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones…” Surah At-Tahrim (66:6)
How are we protecting our children from the Fire when we are the ones handing them the tools to build lives of fraud?
Also, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also said:“Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is responsible for his flock and you will be held accountable “ Sahih Bukhari & Muslim
From the Christian perspective, Proverbs 22:6 commands: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
What then are we training them in? Dishonesty, corruption, and compromise? If we raise them on lies, we should not be surprised when they build lives of ruin.
It is unfortunately this generation is growing up believing that success requires no effort, just connections and payments.
They will become adults who fake results, forge documents, cut corners, and manipulate systems. We will have ourselves to blame when they lie under oath, falsify medical reports, or embezzle public funds.
Parents need to know that when they pay for their child to cheat, they are not buying success; they are selling the soul of their child. Parents must resist the urge to “assist” their children to cheat.
When we allow children to cheat their way through life, we are not helping them; we are handicapping them permanently.
Religious leaders must speak out against it from the pulpit.
Communities must stigmatize dishonesty. We must understand that by cheating on exams, we are not just stealing grades; we are cheating our country out of future scientists, doctors, leaders, and innovators. We are raising a generation that expects reward without work.
Let us remember: a society that cheats in the classroom will ultimately cheat in the courtroom, the hospital ward, the parliament, and every institution. If we don’t act now, we won’t just lose our educational system, we’ll lose our entire future.
Ruqayyah Hamidu Muhammad (PhD)
Executive Director,
Network for Awareness on Socia-economic Rights and Sustainable Development
(NASSDEV)
