GUSAU, Zamfara State – Years of educational stagnation and uncertainty have ended for thousands of Zamfara State students, as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) have finally released their withheld Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) results. This breakthrough comes after Governor Dauda Lawal successfully settled outstanding debts owed to the examination bodies by previous administrations, amounting to over N2.7 billion.
The non-payment of examination fees had crippled the educational aspirations of countless students, with some results being held back for as long as five years. Previous Zamfara State governments failed to remit fees to NECO from 2014 to 2018 and to WAEC from 2018 to 2022, placing the state at the lowest rung of educational indices nationwide.
In a statement released on Saturday by Governor Lawal’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, it was confirmed that the incumbent administration has made significant payments to both WAEC and NECO. Specifically, Governor Lawal paid N1.4 billion to WAEC to clear debts incurred between 2018 and 2022. For NECO, an initial payment of N320,699,850.00 was made to settle debts from 2020 to 2021, and an agreement has been reached to release results from 2014 to 2018 upon the first tranche of the N1.022 billion owed for that period.
Governor Lawal’s decisive action is a direct outcome of his declaration of a state of emergency on education in November 2023. This comprehensive strategy aims to revitalize the state’s dilapidated education sector. Since the declaration, the government has embarked on extensive renovations and equipping of over 500 schools and has initiated training and retraining programs for public school teachers.
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The impact of this intervention is profound. The immediate past administration’s failure to pay the 2023 WAEC fees resulted in no public school in Zamfara participating in that year’s examination. However, with the current administration’s prompt payment for 2024, Zamfara students from public schools were able to sit for the exams this year.
This critical step not only provides long-awaited relief to stranded students who were unable to pursue higher education or employment due to inaccessible results but also marks a significant stride towards restoring the integrity and functionality of education in Zamfara State, finally offering a brighter future for its youth.
