When you became Head of Nigeria WAEC in 2020, you inherited uncompleted projects, how were you able handle the challenge?
Thank you very much. I resumed the leadership of this organization on the sixth of March 2020. Just as I was about to settle down, COVID-19 knocked on the door. We all know the disruptions and the devastating effects of COVID-19 wrecked havoc on the economy, the social and political life of this country, not just this country, but the whole world.
So I came in at that time and I couldn’t really start doing anything because we had to go back home. COVID-19 told everybody to go back home so we went back home for month. The pandemic had a telling effects on the finances of every organization, every country and the whole world. In WAEC, we don’t have anything called abandoned projects. My predecessor did his very best and actually initiated some legacy projects and completed some. Since governance is a continuum and time could not permit you to complete some of the projects earmarked because of COVID-19, we had to put a stop to every developmental projects through no fault of ours because there were just no way to continue at that time. And so the projects are still ongoing. I want to re-emphasize the fact we do not have abandoned projects here. They are gigantic projects and definitely they are going to be completed. When we resumed after COVID-19 pandemic, we started all over again. I can assure you that those projects my predecessor initiated or started which couldn’t complete, they are surely going to be completed. If I don’t complete them, my successor, (Dr Amos Josiah Dangut) will complete them
So let us look at your own projects that you initiated and has done during your tenure?
In every home, in every organization, in every society, in a state or in a country, you have what we call needs and wants. You want to do a lot but there are scarce resources. So that calls for prioritization. What are those things you need most, what are those things you need but are not so urgent now, that you can do later? That’s why you need not miss the talk of needs or wants. And so when I came on board, because of the effects of COVID-19, the shrinking resources, we had to prioritize. I called my team and we discussed and agreed on the list based on priority. Since I came on board I have initiated a lot of these needs. When you talk of creating office spaces, infrastructure facilities are always going to be something you keep doing to build capacity.
Right now in Lafia, Nasarawa State, the office is almost at a completion stage now. They’re going to commission that office and we’re going to move in because currently we are using a temporary office in Lafia. The state government gave us a piece of land and if you don’t develop it within a given period, they will take it back from you and that became a priority. I am happy that we started it and we have completed it and by next month (October), they’re going to open the place for us.
WAEC is itself 72 years old and all these years we were printing outside. But now have our own printing press. You may be surprised to hear that before I came on board, I had that vision. I had a plan and I told them that if I was appointed as the HNO, I would get the printer. It sounded like a very tall order. Nobody believed that such a thing could happen. But this is something I have prayed to God about. And I began that as far as spiritual motivation was concerned, I was going to do it and I thank God today that on the 28th of November last year, the printing press was inaugurated. I am happy to let you know that, It’s the first of its kind in the whole of West Africa as far as WAEC is concerned. That is my major achievement, as far as I’m concerned. Right now, we can do our printing in- house so that is a very big feat.
What of Projects you launched and executed and their importance?
I have launched a number of projects; technological innovation in our certificates. We are trying to apply technology to better our services and service delivery. today. We can confidently talk of digital certificates. You have heard of it, you have seen people you know accessing the digital certificate platform and downloading the portal.
This has improved candidate’s accessibility to get their WAEC results thorough innovation. That is monumental and It has never happened anywhere in Africa.That you will release results and candidates will assess the results simultaneously. It has never happened anywhere. That’s a major achievement. Then we have ‘WAEC verify’ which is like corporations, institutions and others wanting to find out how authentic a certificate of ther applicants is. The digital certificate is not an attempt or wholesale attempt to replace the hardcopy certificate. So, let people should not be afraid oh especially the schools that are trying do away with the hardcopies.
The institutions should know that digital certificates complement the hardcopy certification and will normally come out 90 days after the release of the WAEC results. So it has come as a relief to me. That will no longer have to wait for your certificate to come out.
If you are seeking for that job or an admission or whatever purpose. And if you are in America or wherever, your certificate can be verified through the platform just from your mobile device.
And I want to use this opportunity to clear the air on setting issues. People confuse the two, some people especially in our political who don’t have a certificate. The question you should really ask is do the person have a result not certificate? It is when there is result, then there will be a certificate. WAEC certificate is just a paper showing your result. If you don’t have a result, you can never have a certificate. So we just laugh when we see journalists going to town with news that a politician or a governor does not have a certificate or WAEC is holding on to a governor’s certificate. We don’t keep people’s certificate and neither do we have a duplicate.
You did your WAEC 45 years ago , what has changed and are students better prepared now or not ?
A lot has changed since I did my WASSCE then WASC/SC O’Level in 1978 when there was no internet and opportunities to cheat as it is now. The present generation have more opportunities and tools to excel more than us but are faced with many factors that compete with their time and focus. Examination malpractice is largely caused by lack of confidence among students and schools to prepare their students for an examination. The schools, parents indulging their children and the society play a role in mass failures among students. We can correct this anomaly by knowing that there are no two ways to excel in an examination other than to study diligently with tools that are available in WAEC portal. We are about unveiling our E-library to future help the students to excel in their subjects.
