.... also commends Makinde's determination to follow it up
By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko, Ibadan
The Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Oyo, Most Rev. Emmanuel Badejo has commended the recent regulatory action taken by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) on examination malpractices and the determination of the Oyo State Government to follow up on it.
Badejo made the commendation in a statement on Saturday in Ibadan.
It will be recalled that WAEC published a list of about 50 schools in Oyo State, which it derecognized for involvement in examination malpractice during the West African School Certificate Examination for school candidates for the year 2022.
The state government had summoned the proprietors of the schools to explain how their schools came to be indicted for examination malpractice and show how terminal classes students will be catered for during the period of the schools’ deregulation.
Badejo expressed great concern that the list of erring schools included government, private, Christian, and Muslim entries alike.
The Oyo State government announced plans to sanction the principals and the parents of the delisted schools in accordance with its policy of zero tolerance for examination malpractices.
The Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Abiodun Abdu-Raheem clarified that while the affected schools will not be allowed to present candidates for WAEC for a period of two years, no student in the State will be prevented from writing the WASCE for the 2022/2023 academic session or in subsequent years.
The Catholic Bishop said both WAEC and the State Government deserved full support from every well-meaning organisation and persons for these steps.
"The action and the sanctions imposed by the State government for the offence, in my mind, seem well measured and balanced.
"The sanctions showed enough seriousness from the government to regulate the society and showed adequate consideration for the students affected.
"In truth, all well-meaning Nigerians should see the scourge of examination malpractice as one of the most dangerous cankerworms consuming the very roots of Nigerian civilization and moral fibre.
"Way too much lip service is paid by government to the sanitisation of society on many issues. This is especially true for our country where good policies and laws abound but implementation and sanctions are scarce," he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the opposition APC in Oyo State, through its publicity secretary, Olawale Sadare, accused the Seyi Makinde's government of wrongly blaming the principals and parents of the affected schools for the crime committed, asking it to exercise caution in the matter.
He said the issue should not be politicised, rather all stakeholders should join hands to address it.
According to him, true leaders must be known to take necessary and courageous actions regardless of the cost, for the sake of the common good.
"Politicians who prefer to court partisan popularity only invite the public to show that they know good from bad and will not be cheaply taken for granted.
"The common people must rebuke such leaders who really care little about the citizens or the future, and sanction them through the ballot box when election time comes.
"The truth is that only a re-injection of moral values in our public and private life and especially in our educational institutions can restore sanity and glory to our country, the place and time to begin from is just about anywhere, at any time," he said.
Badejo adds that The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) firmly debunked that erroneous belief in a communique issued at Orlu in September 2001 entitled: “The Threshold of A New Era In Nigeria”.
There, he said the CBCN urged all the catholic faithful especially those with talent for the difficult but noble art of politics to get involved in it.
"The Church teaches that politics is for the common good, in which it finds its justification and significance and the source of its inherent legitimacy.
"Simply put, politics is just too serious a business to be left to politicians alone," he said.
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