Nigeria’s educational system is bleeding, not from a lack of policies or infrastructure alone, but from a deeper rot—exam malpractice.
Once a shameful act, malpractice has now become an organised and accepted system within many schools, driven by greed, desperation, and a complete breakdown of values.
This cancerous trend, if not urgently addressed, will continue to produce half-baked graduates, cripple our economy, and destroy the moral fabric of the nation.
The New Normal: Bribes Before Brains
Across many examination centres in Nigeria, particularly during WAEC, NECO, or JAMB, a disturbing pattern is emerging. It is no longer just the students who cheat—teachers, school owners, and invigilators are now complicit.
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Today, invigilators and external supervisors are deliberately compromised. School proprietors, desperate to position their institutions as “high-performing”, offer monetary inducements and hospitality packages to invigilators, encouraging them to turn a blind eye to malpractice.
In some cases, supervisors are even offered upfront “welcome” payments, free accommodation, food, and transportation allowances—all in exchange for silence or active collaboration in the exam halls.
A Syndicate in Uniform
What was once a solitary act of a desperate student has grown into a full-blown criminal enterprise. In some private and even public schools, teachers write answers on the board, smuggle phones into the exam hall, or pass around already solved question papers.
It is deeply troubling that in some centres, invigilators shamelessly announce—before the examination even begins—the amount to be paid to engage in malpractice. The class is then disgracefully divided into two groups: those who can afford to pay and are allowed to cheat, and those who cannot, who must rely solely on their intellect. It is a shameful practice that reflects the rot in the system.
These schools claim they are simply “helping the children succeed”, but in truth, they are buying reputation. With inflated scores and impressive pass rates, they lure unsuspecting parents, who are unaware that their children’s success was purchased, not earned.
This is how schools that encourage malpractice now climb to the top of league tables and rankings, often gaining government recognition, media praise, and increased enrolment—all based on fraudulent results.
Parents, Students, and the Pressure to Succeed
Parents are not innocent either. Many are fully aware that their children are not academically prepared, but still pressure teachers and pay for “special arrangements” to ensure they “pass by fire by force”.
This unhealthy obsession with certificates and grades, instead of real knowledge and character, is fueling a generation of students who can barely defend the qualifications they parade.
Some parents even request special centres where their children can cheat without fear of consequence, turning learning into a business transaction.
Nigeria’s Higher Institutions: Now Breeding Grounds for Academic Fraud
Sadly, the situation is even worse in Nigeria’s universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
The rot has penetrated so deeply that many students no longer see learning as a priority. Their focus has shifted from attending lectures and mastering their courses to making money to “sort” lecturers or finding ways to exchange sex for grades.
Real-Life Cases That Shocked the Nation:
- UNILAG “Sex for Grades” Scandal (2019)
A BBC Africa Eye documentary exposed senior lecturers at the University of Lagos who demanded sex from female students in exchange for good grades. One was caught on hidden camera harassing a journalist posing as a 17-year-old applicant. - Auchi Polytechnic Sorting Scandal (2022)
Students openly admitted in viral videos that they were paying lecturers to upgrade their results. According to one student:
“You don’t even need to attend class. Just make sure you have your money ready.” - Imo State University “Grade-for-Cash” Saga (2020)
Several students testified before a probe panel that lecturers had turned certain courses into cash cows, where failure was almost certain unless a payment was made.
Pepper Certificates: The Death of Merit
What students now pursue is not knowledge, but the certificate—popularly called “pepper” in Nigerian slang. They do not care how they get it. The goal is to graduate with something they can use to “pepper” society, even if they cannot defend the degree or diploma.
Today, we see Master’s and PhD degrees acquired by individuals lacking genuine academic capacity—yet these same individuals are absorbed into the university system to lecture others. The cycle of mediocrity continues, producing graduates who are no better than their teachers.
This warped mentality has led to a generation of graduates who cannot speak, write, or apply what they studied. Employers often complain about graduates who are completely unemployable—products of a broken system.
Consequences: Producing a Generation of Quacks
The ripple effects of exam malpractice are both immediate and long-term:
- Professionals who can’t perform: We are now seeing engineers who can’t construct, nurses who can’t administer basic treatment, and teachers who can’t spell correctly—all because they passed through a broken system.
- Loss of national competitiveness: When our degrees lose credibility, Nigerian graduates are treated with suspicion abroad, limiting their global opportunities.
- Moral collapse: If students learn that success can be bought, they grow up believing that bribery and shortcuts are the keys to success—a dangerous ideology that feeds corruption in every sector.
Solutions: Rebuilding with Integrity
- Strict Monitoring and Digital Supervision: Use of CCTV cameras and biometric attendance for exam staff to discourage misconduct.
- Heavy Penalties for Complicit Schools and Invigilators: Withdrawal of licences, public blacklisting, and criminal prosecution should apply.
- Value Reorientation Campaigns: Continuous education for students, parents, and teachers on the importance of integrity and genuine success.
- Incentives for Ethical Schools: Rather than only celebrating pass rates, reward schools that uphold examination integrity.
- Parent-Teacher Collaboration: Parents must shift their mindset from “my child must pass” to “my child must learn”. Teachers and parents need to work hand-in-hand to instil the right values in children.
Radical but Necessary Reforms to Rebuild Trust in Our Universities
- Name and Shame Corrupt Lecturers and Institutions
Universities and polytechnics should implement anonymous whistleblowing platforms, with protection for students who report exploitation. - Independent Monitoring Bodies
Exam bodies and higher institutions must use external auditors, digital surveillance, and biometric records to track exam processes. - Introduce Academic Integrity Courses
Every student should be required to take and pass courses on ethics, values, and integrity before graduation. - Punish, Not Protect
Lecturers and invigilators caught engaging in academic fraud should be dismissed and prosecuted. No sacred cows. - Empower Students to Learn, Not Buy Grades
Education should focus more on project-based learning, practical skills, and entrepreneurship, so students are motivated to actually gain knowledge, not just pass.
Nigeria Must Wake Up
We are at a dangerous crossroads. If we continue on this path of exam fraud, corruption, and certificate worship, we will destroy the very soul of the nation.
No society grows beyond the quality of its education. If our schools and higher institutions are corrupted, so too will our hospitals, government, economy, and future.
It is time for us to return to truth, merit, and discipline. Let us raise a generation that values learning, not shortcuts. We must kill exam malpractice, or it will kill Nigeria.
