By Jeremiah Aminu
On January 21, 2025, Ijie Joseph shared a post on the “Association of Private School Teachers of Nigeria” Facebook group to express his displeasure concerning the deteriorating state of the Nigerian educational system. He began with a terse, yet striking statement where he stated that: “In my opinion, Nigeria’s educational system is on the brink of a state of emergency”.
This short, but urgent comment illustrates the ongoing issue surrounding the mass failure of Nigerian students in the recently released WAEC examination results, most especially in English. According to the examination body, it recorded a poor pass rate of 38.32 per cent whereby 754,545 candidates obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English. This contrasts with the higher percentage of 2024 which recorded a 72.12 per cent pass rate in similar subjects (English inclusive). Hence, in this regard, this drastic decline now triggers these important questions: What are the causal factors behind this mass failure, most especially in the English language exam? Is it poor educational facilities? Is it the gross negligence of the examination body which subjected students in certain centres to write the English language exam under unbearable conditions? Is it understaffed personnel or inadequate resources? To discuss this further, the New Daily Prime will be spotlighting the viewpoints of education experts such as Yomi Otubela, the president of NAPPS, and Adeola Adefemi, an award-winning educator and peace advocate, as well as two Facebook users in the country—Chukwudi and Eze Ojonugwa.
During an informative interview on Channels Television, Yomi Otubela, the president of NAPPS (National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools), underscored poor infrastructural facilities as a causal factor for the mass failure. In this regard, he referenced disturbing instances of students in some examination centres who wrote the English exam at night with the aid of candle lights and torches due to the absence of electricity:
“The condition in which the examination was written in some states is not acceptable to us. The fact that children were writing exams late into the night with candles and torchlights cannot be a standard that will allow us to have commendable results”, he remarked.
He then emphasised the need for academic and governmental authorities to collaboratively identify the challenges facing the Nigerian educational system and remediate them:
“Overall, I think there is a challenge in our educational system at the moment. Both private and government stakeholders need a more robust working relationship to identify where the challenges lie and proffer lasting solutions”.
In a similar vein, Adeola Adefemi, an award-winning educator and peace advocate, shared her opinion concerning the far-reaching failure of Nigerian students in the English language examination, linking it to infrastructural dysfunctionalities and WAEC’s negligence. She stated that:
“Dear WAEC…During the English examination, we called YOUR ATTENTION to what was going on. Social media platforms were flooded with heartbreaking images and stories. Students were forced to write under harsh, dehumanizing conditions…these children were exhausted, and you know, as educators and examiners, that writing a 450-word essay, alongside its nagging family members like comprehension and summary demands mental clarity. These students did not just need pens and papers, they needed a conducive environment”.
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Relatedly, Chukudi, a Facebook user, also condemned the mass failure, attributing it to poor infrastructural provisions. In his post, he decried the unbearable conditions in which the students wrote the English language exam, most especially in poorly lit halls whereby the students had to rely on light beams from candles, torches, and a solar-powered street light:
“Do we entirely blame these candidates? People who wrote the English paper…in an exam hall that had no single electric bulb, and no alternative power supply provided by WAEC. The candidates resorted to bringing candles, torches, etc, to write the exam at night. Some had to cluster around one solar-powered street light to write the English paper on the floor”.
Similarly, Eze Ojonugwa, another Facebook user, shared a post on the “JAMB GROUP 2025 UPDATES” where he voiced his displeasure concerning the widespread failure of the English WAEC exam by the affected students. Just like Chukwudi, he also referenced the poor infrastructural provisions that were made for the examination, labelling it as a “systemic failure” of the Nigerian educational system:
“WAEC English Mass Failure is Unacceptable! How can we expect fair results when: Some schools wrote the English exams as late as 9p.m. or even midnight…Consequently, there’s a mass failure and students are paying the price with their dreams…This isn’t just a student problem. It’s a systemic failure”, he said.
Amidst the outpourings of criticisms by the Nigerian populace, WAEC posted a press release on August 7, 2025, where they apologised for the result error, attributing it to “technical bugs” and promising to promptly address the issue. Following the review procedures initiated by the examination body, it later revealed that 62.96 per cent of the candidates obtained credits, most especially in English, as opposed to the 38.32 per cent that was initially recorded. Despite the corrections by the exam body, the current percentage still signals a slight decline when compared with the pass record of 2024 which stands at 72.12 per cent.
In light of all that have been discussed above, it is apparent that the deficient state of the Nigerian educational system demands urgent attention. In cases where students write an examination in an inconducive environment (as in the case of the Nigerian students who wrote their exam in poorly lit halls), the chances of acing the written exam are very low, especially for a subject like English that requires rigorous mental engagement. Thus, to prevent this recurrent problem with released examination results (just as the JAMB result issue), it is crucial for examination bodies to rigorously review students’ results before their release in order to prevent this failure-oriented trend from becoming another educational normative culture in the Nigerian education system.
