Fear and anxiety gripped many parents in Warri and its environs on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, as their children sat for the English Language paper in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
The examination, which is scheduled to end on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, has been marred by consistent delays in the commencement of various subjects.
However, Wednesday’s English Language paper took a disturbing turn, triggering widespread concern.
Reports indicate that some candidates who left their homes early to write the English Language paper slated for 9:30 am had still not returned home by 9pm.
Alarmingly, by 10pm., several students were still seen around the Effurun axis of the NPA Expressway, as some schools reportedly did not commence the English Theory paper until around 8pm.
This unprecedented delay threw many parents into panic, with some rushing to their children’s examination centres in search of answers.
At examination venues such as Edjeba Primary School in Edjeba-Warri, Step Forward Group of Schools in Warri, and Army Day Secondary School in Effurun, students were reportedly forced to purchase candles to enable them to complete their exams in the dark, as the paper stretched late into the night.
A concerned parent, identified as Mr Love, told NewsNet Nigeria that he was shocked to learn upon returning from Asaba at about 7pm that his 16-year-old daughter was still at school writing the English Language examination.
Sources disclosed that the delay was caused by logistical issues as the vehicle initially transporting the examination materials from Benin allegedly had a flat tyre and by the time exam officials arranged for an alternative means of transport, a significant portion of the day had already been lost.
As a result, the first segment of the English paper did not begin until around 12 noon.
This troubling incident has further raised serious concerns about the competence of Nigeria’s examination bodies, particularly WAEC and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in executing their mandates effectively.
The chaotic conduct of the 2025 WASSCE, coupled with the earlier reported failures during the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by JAMB, paints a grim picture of Nigeria’s education sector and its ongoing struggles with systemic inefficiencies and mismanagement.
