The Reps, the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and former presidential media aide, Reno Omokri, have all kicked against the Federal government’s decision to cancel the West African Senior School Certificate Examination WASSCE for this year.

Recall that the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, on Wednesday, 8th of July 2020 announced the government’s decision to cancel the 2020 Waec exam.

The decision by the FG is due to the increasing number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the country, Adamu said schools in Nigeria will only be opened when it is safe for students.

But the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar had in a statement released today faulted the government’s decision to cancel the exam.

”As a parent and investor in the education sector, I wish to register the fact that the Nigerian government’s policy of unilaterally cancelling the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, held annually by the West African Examinations Council, is not in Nigeria’s best interest,” his statement reads.

“At a time of the global COVID19 pandemic, it is understandable that an abundance of caution be put in place to save lives.

“However, caution, without consultation, and thoughtful action, may be counter productive.

“1.5 million Nigerian youths write the West African Senior School Certificate Examination annually.

“To abruptly cancel this examination is to set back our nation’s youth, and place them behind their contemporaries in other West African nations.

“This is perilous because Foreign Direct Investments and other economic indicators are tied to the educational indexes of nations.

“Already, Nigeria lags behind other African nations in crucial indices, like school enrolment, pass rates, and out of school children.

“This action, will further create chaos in the public education system and exacerbate an already bad situation.

“Rather than cancellation, there are better ways to protect the health of Nigerians and prevent the pandemic from escalating.

“We could mobilise all available public and private infrastructures including primary schools, stadia, and cinemas, for the examinations. In the alternative, the Federal Government can prevail on WAEC to have a staggering examination with a different set of questions for each shift.

“Doing so will allow WAEC Nigeria (to) implement social distancing and achieve the goal of carrying out the examinations. A win-win scenario.

“I urge this administration to take into account that the lives they are trying to save will be further put at risk, because if this policy is not reversed, tens of thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands of Nigerians, will breach social distancing rules to cross over to neighbouring West African nations to write their WASSCE, rather than miss a year,” it added.

Reacting to the development, former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, said Nigeria’s education system does not have the potential to manage an overriding number of students who would be ready to take the examination next year.

He wrote, ” 1.5 million Nigerians write WASSCE every year. Nigeria does not have the capacity to hold WAEC exams for 3 million people next year. What this means is that, if this policy is not reversed, every Nigerian child will miss a year, not just the final year students.

Edo has 2,210,534 voters, while Ondo has 1,822,346. A total of 4,032,880. WAEC has 1.5 million registered students in Nigeria.

“WAEC exams takes 5 hours. Voting takes all day. So, what is the rationale for suspending WASSCE, yet go on with Edo and Ondo elections?

“Ghana opened schools for final year students and confirmed that WAEC examinations will hold.

“Meanwhile, Nigeria suspended WAEC exams. That is because Ghana’s President, @NAkufoAddo is a graduate of @UniofOxford,  and General @MBuhari has questionable WAEC status!” he tweeted.

Also, members of the house of representative kicked against the government’s decision.

The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services has appealed to the Federal Government not to cancel the forthcoming West African Senior School Certificate Examinations.

In a statement by the Chairman, Prof.Julius Ihonvbere, titled: “WASSCE should not be cancelled,” on Friday, the lawmakers said stakeholders were not informed beforehand, and that the “policy reversal is not good for the country,” adding that ” It is bound to create further confusion in the education sector.”

The statement reads: “The House Committee on Basic Education and Services received with amazement the announcement by the Honourable Minister of Education that Nigerian students would not be participating in the forthcoming WASSCE examinations

“He did not inform the country if this was in agreement with other West African leaders or in consultation with the examination bodies, the state governments and other stakeholders in the education sector.

“The Minister did not also inform the public if the decision was the outcome of a meeting with all State Governments that are in charge of all but the Unity Secondary Schools that are owned by the Federal government.

This sudden policy reversal is not good for the country. It is bound to create further confusion in the education sector, create disappointment and suspicion among parents, frustrate the students, and show to our development partners and Nigerians that the distortions and disarticulations in the sector are only getting worse.

“The reversal also shows that our policy makers may just be adopting a laid-back approach to the need to confront the novel coronavirus rather than taking proactive and creative steps to manage and contain it.”

The committee also said “Mr. President should direct all his Ministers to return to their states, work with the Governors and ensure the smooth implementation of the policy and conduct of the examination.”

“The House Committee appreciates the reservations of the Honourable Minister of Education. We are parents just like him. No Nigerian parent would want to delay, distort, even terminate the progress of their child.

“We are convinced that if our policy of no boarding house, reconceptualising scope of exams, use of all classrooms and halls in the schools, quadrupling the number of invigilators, provision of facemasks, sanitizers and hand washing facilities are followed, the WASSCE can be conducted with ease and with no repercussions.

“Let us collectively save and advance our educational system and build a future we can be all proud of, ” the committee said.