NECO mass failure: Things now so bad in Nigerian that students can't afford to buy leaked papers

Minna – Following another mass failure recorded in the National Examination Council (NECO) results released in Minna, Niger State, on Wednesday, a presidential Panel has been set up to look into the reason Nigerian students are constantly failing.

The panel has since delivered a preliminary report which heaps the blame on students who, according to the panel, are too busy watching Nigerian Idol, occupying, and tweeting, rather than reading their books.

Investigation by this news site however reveals that members of the panel are not unanimous in condemning students.

In particular, a member of the panel who asked not to be identified suggested that it amounts to demanding miracles of the students when Government does nothing to improve learning conditions and teachers themselves cannot be guaranteed to pass the examinations their students failed.

Perhaps most controversial is the assertion by another anonymous member of the panel, that students interviewed confessed that they failed because they could not afford to pay for the exam questions before the examination.

This, according to the panel member, throws light on an even deeper rot in the Nigerian state which has become so impoverished following fuel subsidy removal, that students can’t even afford to pay to cheat their way to success.

- Joe Aibozaw