Leadership Editors
— May 30, 2014
Contrary to insinuations by the West
African Examination Council (WAEC)
that it had warned the Borno State
government against conducting
examinations in Chibok, Borno State,
fresh facts have emerged from the
Borno State government indicating that
there was no such warning from the
examination body before the unfortunate
abduction of over 200 school girls in
Chibok.
On Friday, May 2, 2014, the head of the
national office of the WAEC in Nigeria,
Charles Eguridu revealed that the WAEC
had specifically warned that Chibok
wasn’t safe for the May/June 2014
West African Senior School Certificate
Examinations (WASSCE) but that
Governor Kashim Shettima overruled the
warning and insisted that the
examinations be held, as he was going
to provide adequate security.
Documents made available to
LEADERSHIP FRIDAY show that, while
the examination body requested for
security measures at examination
centres, it did not single out Chibok as
it claimed earlier in the month. A copy
of a letter written by the WAEC, with
reference number MD/ZO/OA/10/203,
dated March 19, 2014, and signed by
F.M Gaiya, zonal coordinator of the
exam body who wrote on behalf of the
council’s national headquarters, suggest
that the council did not single out
Chibok as “unsafe”, while the council
actually made preparations alongside
the state government to conduct
examinations in all centres. It was,
however, true that the council raised
issues of security which it did by
requesting the Borno government to
provide security in all the centres. By
the documents, it is clear that there was
no particular emphasis on Chibok as
Eguridu, other federal officials and
politicians, including the national
chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic
Party (PDP), Ahmad Adamu Muazu,
seemed to imply.
In the letter, titled “urgent intervention
towards the conduct of the May/June
2014 WASSCE in Borno State,” the zonal
coordinator, whose letter was directed to
the Borno State deputy governor,
Zannah Umar Mustapha, said “Your
Excellency (deputy governor); following
my visit to your office with the
honourable commissioner for education
in the presence of the director, ERC, on
ways of conducting a hitch-free 2014
WASSCE in the State, I wish to
passionately make the following request
for the duration of the examination
(copy of time table attached); Provision
of three (3) pick-up vehicles to convey
security (sensitive exam) materials on
three routes from Maiduguri-Biu (daily);
Maiduguri-Auno (daily) and Maiduguri
to Askira-Lassa-Chibok (twice weekly).”
Communications between the council
and the Borno State government show
that Government Girls Secondary School,
Chibok, was among other schools where
the council planned to conduct its
examination.
Also, correspondence between the Borno
State government and the commissioner
of police show that in a letter dated
March 20, 2014, with reference number
SEC/282/GH/T.I/109, signed by M. M
Gana, the chief administration officer,
special services (security) at the
Government House Maiduguri, it is
evident that the Borno State government
promptly wrote to the Borno State Police
Commissioner, Lawal Tanko, requesting
for security to be provided for all
examination centres in the state
(including Chibok),for the duration of
the May/June 2014 WASSCE
examinations.
This is contrary to statements by the
Borno State Commissioner of Police,
that the police was requested to provide
security in Chibok, only during the day.
Meanwhile, another letter sent from the
office of the minister of state for
education which the supervising
minister claimed he used in warning the
Borno State government against
conducting the WASSCE in Chibok was
said to have focused entirely on ‘Unity
Schools’ – requesting the Borno State
government to move SS3 students from
all federal colleges in the state to
Maiduguri for the May/June exams –
given that they are relatively fewer than
those in government-owned schools. By
the letter, the minister keyed into the
model adopted by the Borno State
government, which collapsed students in
fewer examination centres as against
over 100 located in over 80 public
secondary and private schools across
the state.
The minister has neither controlling nor
advisory powers over schools owned by
Borno State government and, as such,
he couldn’t have directed the Borno
government not to conduct exams in
Chibok.
Last week, the supervising minister of
education, Nyesom Wike, reportedly said
that he wrote, advising the state
government not to hold examinations in
Chibok.
Also relating to the Chibok incident, the
council had written another letter to the
Borno State government with reference
number MD/ZO/OA/10/204, dated May
10, 2014,titled “May/June 2014
WASSCE-logistics for conduct of
examinations,” and signed by the WAEC
zonal coordinator, F.M. Gaiya, as a
follow-up, showed that the council made
a submission to the Borno State
government, demanding the release of
N1.668m out of which the government
released N1.5m which the zonal
coordinator received.
All the correspondences seem to
suggest that both the WAEC and the
Borno State government did not
anticipate any form of security
challenges in Chibok.
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