Although the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) did not name the 19 states owing it for the last May/June Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSSCE), it is just honourable that the affected states redeemed their image by paying up immediately. According to the council, the states owe it about N4billion. WAEC’s Head of National Office, (HNO) Mr Charles Eguridu, who disclosed this said the debt is affecting the council’s operations. “As I speak to you now, we are cash-strapped as a result of the delay in offsetting the registration fees owed the council by some states. As a result, we are finding it difficult in meeting our financial obligations, particularly to our supervisors, examiners and service providers”.
We feel for the numerous candidates whose results would be seized if WAEC carried out its threat to so do should the state governments continue to ignore appeals to pay up. But what the states have done by defaulting in their payment obligation to WAEC is to betray the trust the council reposed in them. Without their assurance that they would pick up the SSSCE bills, the council would not have allowed their candidates to sit for the examinations because it operates a ‘cash and carry’ business policy.
If other West African states that also sit for the council’s examinations default in payment, the council would long have closed shop or its services would have deteriorated to the extent that its certificates would have lost the credibility that they enjoy in many parts of the world.
We would have seen the development as fallout of the country’s present economic downturn but for the fact that this is not the first time some states have been defaulting in this self-imposed obligation. It had been happening even when the states enjoyed relatively healthy financial status. So, what we are witnessing with regard to the WAEC debt could be the consequence of financial recklessness and failure to prioritise expenditure in most of the states, which is unfortunate. After all, the affected states knew long ago that they had such obligations.
We sympathise with some parents in Nasarawa State who do not want WAEC to withhold their wards’ results because, according to them, it is not the fault of the students that their state governments failed to pay their registration fees. But it does not seem litigation that the parents are recommending is the answer to the issue, too. We all know that justice travels here at snail’s speed. So, neither the candidates nor WAEC would derive any immediate benefit if litigation is the next resort. What should be done is to mount pressure on the affected states to pay up on time so that the students who need the results for the purpose of furthering their studies can do so without further delay.
It is important to state that any state government that knows it cannot afford to pay the registration fees for its candidates should indicate so on time for the parents to take their children’s destiny in their hands. It is pointless promising to pay only to renege, thereby jeopardising candidates’ future. We know that in many of our states – corruption, impunity, fiscal recklessness – all reign supreme, making it impossible for the state governments to fulfil even their most basic obligations. But then, WAEC is not a charity organisation. It is in business and not many business concerns can stay afloat when it has a hefty N4billion debt to collect.
So, the state governments should not take their irresponsibility to new lows that defaulting in registration fees represent. As a matter of fact, WAEC should not shield such states; it should name them, perhaps that would make them pay their debt. If the state governments must be reminded, the children that they fail to educate today will only end up being the society’s albatross tomorrow.
