Stopping Nigerian Students From Writing 2020 WAEC Will Be Bad For Our Students – Afe Babalola

Popular legal icon, Chief Afe Babalola has come out to say that stopping students from writing the 2020 WASCE would cause irreparable damage for them.

The Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, (ABUAD) founder revealed this in a recent statement in Ado Ekiti.

According to him, the fact that 1.5 million Nigerian students who had registered for admission into various tertiary institutions in the country were patiently waiting for WASCE results to get admission into universities this year means they need to write the exam.

He added that COVID-19 is not going anytime soon, so Nigeria has to manage the pandemic the same way the world has been managing.

His words, “Even though the Minister of Education insisted that it was not safe to re-open the various institutions in the face of the increasing wave of COVID-19 pandemic, he did not indicate when it will be safe for Nigerian students who have been staying at home since March 23 to participate in the annual examination.

“When will COVID-19 disappear?: To be sure, it will be with us for a long time to come. Like Small Pox, Malaria, Influenza, flu, Leprosy and Cholera, it may not be completely exterminated from planet earth.

“That means that Nigerians have to manage COVID-19 pandemic the same way as the world has been managing previous pandemics,”

“From history, pandemics had been tackled over the ages by relying on social distancing, which Nigeria has embraced and is practising. This has been applied to churches, mosques, weddings and many elections in Nigeria. Why not WASCE?

“It is my firm belief that the future of these 1.5 million young Nigerians, who have registered for WASCE should not be put in jeopardy.

“It is a known fact that all schools, colleges and tertiary institutions in the country are currently shut down. This affords the Federal Government the opportunity to use them for WASCE halls.

“What the government should do is to prepare the empty rooms for WAEC examination – fumigate the halls and the premises, use face mask, provide sanitiser and ensure that WHO rules are obeyed to the letter.”