Analysis I WAEC's Impending Electronic Mode For Certificates

By Fred Nwaozor



Education has in recent times been arguably regarded as one of the greatest investments anyone could lay his hands on. It’s so, because, is an area of life that breeds the mindset towards attaining a remarkable level.

The aforementioned perception could be the reason discerning individuals cum families do not hesitate to sacrifice virtually their entire treasure in their tireless and endless quest for sound education upon their wards.

The Nigeria’s education sector cannot be holistically discussed by any thinker or group without mentioning the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which has over the decades been a household name in the sector.

Owing to the above fact, most times in the contemporary Nigerian society, rather than mention the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), which encompasses the various forms of examining bodies, people find it easier to say ‘WAEC’ while discussing external examinations even when they actually mean the umbrella acronym – SSCE.

This signifies that the overwhelming popularity of WAEC has made it possible for the body to relatively overshadow the relevance of the other existing examining bodies such as the National Examinations Council (NECO) and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), among others that equally speak volumes in the country’s education sector.

Hence, no one seems to take any issue pertaining to WAEC for granted, especially when it concerns the overall interest of the concerned public. It suffices to say that whenever the revered exam board comes up with any proposed innovation, people don’t delay in cross-examining the real content and service value of the impending initiative.

It is on this premise that the recent avowal made by the WAEC has triggered mixed feelings among the teeming Nigerians. The Nigeria’s section of the council disclosed, three weeks back, its unflinching intention to, henceforth, start issuing candidates’ certificates via electronic mode otherwise known as e-mode.

According to the statement, which was tendered precisely on 13th December 2018, through the intended e-mode, the concerned candidates would have the access to apply as well as receive their certificates via an online portal.

It further informed that the proposed method became imperative as a result of the backlog of certificates currently available in their quarters domiciled in the country. The notice indicated that there were thousands of printed certificates, involving numerous years, yet to be collected by the supposed owners. The incoming pattern, therefore, would ensure that certificates are only prepared upon request of any affected candidate.

Acknowledging that the human society at large is now conspicuously tech-driven, it’s preposterous to assert that the impending e-mode is a laudable concept that ought to have been born long ago. This implies that the emergence of such an idea is long overdue.

Over the years, prospective candidates of the WAEC have been registering for their intended exams via the online platform, having noted by the council that this is the fastest and easiest way to seamlessly apply for such test of knowledge compared to the manual system that was previously in vogue.

And the online application has hitherto recorded tremendous success, if not a few technical hitches that have overtime posed a threat to the exercise. Aside the electronic application towards sitting for either the May/June or November/December batch of the WAEC’s exams, the Statement of Results of the test can equally be accessed through online.

The target beneficiaries have reportedly been enjoying this systematic approach as some would say that the initiative, since inception, has made it possible for them to get closer to the WAEC irrespective of their respective localities or places of residence.

Now that the WAEC has thought it wise to inculcate another initiative into the existing e-mode of application cum receipt of documents, it’s pertinent for the management of the body to comprehend the rudiments of the awaited exercise with a view to ensuring that all needed parameters are duly considered toward averting possible hitches thereafter.

First, the impending e-site must be a well tested and trusted one devout of any form of barrier as regards online activity. Thus, the portal ought to be foolproof that it wouldn’t give room for any operational anomaly regardless of the circumstance.

Any software to be deployed in the process should be of standard cum latest version and ought to be regularly managed by the personnel with the requisite skills who must be staff of the council. In addition, a special unit that must be willing to work round the clock is expected to be established to handle the A-Z operations and intrigues of the exercise.

Inter alia, world-class anti-hacking softwares are meant to be utilized and maintained as the journey progresses to ensure that internet hackers do not hijack, or have access to, the portal at any time. The WAEC needs to take into cognizance that creating any lapse that could warrant the site to be hacked by any cyber criminal would definitely jeopardize the lofty motive of the body.

Against this backdrop, the council is required to boast of well-experienced anti-hacking professionals in the proposed special unit. Hence, some of the personnel in the unit must, from time to time, undergo in-house workshop and training on ethical hacking terminology towards updating their expertise. So, a reliable entity should be contracted or engaged in respect of this measure.

One of the major good news concerning the latest development is that, if duly implemented, people can from anywhere across the global community apply for and have access to their WAEC certificates without involving themselves in any rigorous processes and what have you, thereby averting any kind of stress or inconvenience.

In view of this, the body needs to ensure that the target beneficiaries don’t spend longer period than anticipated while assessing the e-mode site from any locality. They need to enjoy the services they paid for.

Hence, efforts should also be intensified to ensure that the initiative becomes cost effective so that it won’t end up constituting further financial nuisance to the prospective certificates’ bearers, or the council in particular. Thus, the e-application card is expected to be affordable by all concerned. The site is required to be easily assessed or uploaded to avoid exhausting hundreds of Gigabytes (GB) of data in the process.

As the WAEC is apparently determined to decongest the ‘traffic’ usually constituted by pile-up of printed certificates by introducing an e-mode, it must equally be genuinely ready to guarantee its labour and cost effectiveness so that it wouldn’t in the long run be seen as a menace by the supposed beneficiaries. Think about it!

Comrade Nwaozor, National Coordinator of Right Thinkers Movement
writes via frednwaozor@gmail.com

BREAKING: Shehu Shagari Dies at 93

The Nigeria's second civilian president, Chief Shehu Shagari, whose civilian tenure was sandwiched between two military rulers in an era rocked by coups, has passed on at the age of 93.

Nigeria's current President Muhammadu Buhari, who unseated Shagari 35 years ago, said on Saturday, 29th December 2018, he mourns "the departure of a patriot, who served Nigeria with humility, integrity and diligence."

Chief Shagari's grandson, Mr. Bello Shagari in a Twitter post said, he died on Friday, 28th December 2018 in Abuja, the Nigeria's capital city after a brief illness.

Chief Shagari had an ambivalent relationship with the military, which initially favored his ascension to power but held him in solitary confinement for three years after toppling his government.

After military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo lifted the ban on political activity in Africa's most populous nation in 1978, Shagari beat regional political veterans in a hotly contested election the next year. The polls followed 13 years of military rule by four different men.

At his swearing-in ceremony, Chief Shagari said the military had "succeeded in large measure in unifying us."

It had been less than 20 years since the West African powerhouse had earned its independence from British rule, and it struggled to forge national unity within the colonial borders which tied some 250 ethnic groups together.

Those years saw a civil war, a toppled civilian government and a series of military administrations including that of Gen. Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, in which Shagari served as a civilian finance minister.

Shagari is said to have been the first boy to go to school in his northern village of Shagari in the northeastern state of Sokoto. He started out as a science teacher before entering politics. From 1954-1966 he was a member of the House of Representatives and later held a variety of ministerial posts under both civilian and military governments.

Even though the military had voluntarily paved the way for democratic rule, the threat of its interference loomed over Shagari's time in office.

The oil-rich nation's economy suffered from a sharp drop in global crude oil prices, fueling discontent. On Dec. 29, 1983, Shagari announced austerity measures in a country already suffering from high unemployment rates and general disillusionment after the oil boom of the '70s.

Chief Shagari's administration also was marred by corruption scandals. Even though the public considered him to be honest, his inability to rein in his government's avarice was sharply criticized.

On New Year's Eve in 1983, a group of military plotters toppled his government, describing Shagari's administration as "inept and corrupt." Buhari, then a military officer, took over the nation.

Chief Shagari, who had been elected a few months earlier, seemed to have seen it coming.

"My greatest concern is that democracy survives in Nigeria," he told a biographer just before the coup.

It was not until Buhari returned to the presidency in 2015 that Nigeria saw the first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another.

TECH I On INEC's Tracking Devices, Electronic Collation

By Fred Doc Nwaozor



The last time I checked, even a dummy could testify boldly that technology is at the moment gradually dominating the entire system, hence the compelling need for every institution cum economy to be tech-driven.

It could be this conspicuous fact that informed the recent avowal of the Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It has been in the news that the electoral umpire is looking forward to ensuring that virtually all the impending 2019 elections are tech-driven.

Recently, precisely on 12th July 2018, the commission led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu graciously introduced a new innovation that would help to track the location and movement of any vehicle conveying sensitive electoral materials to its target location.

The INEC boss disclosed that aside ensuring tight security in the transportation of the materials, the commission would equally be tracking all the vehicles carrying them. He said “All we are doing is to maintain our stand on transparency and openness even as we also guard against infiltration.”

According to him, another cogent reason the authority was determined to keep its plans and programmes was that it did not want failure of any form, especially on issues bordering on delivering of voting materials. This implies that cases including late arrival of materials, among others, would soonest be a thing of the past.

The plan to implement vehicular tracking devices come next year was reiterated two weeks back – on December 12, 2018 – when the INEC elatedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with some key vehicle cum traffic unions domiciled in the country, which included the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), among others.

Tracking devices are veritable tools that have, for years now, been in use. It was primarily invented for the purpose of fighting crimes and allied matters. For instance, if a certain programmed device is stolen by anyone, it can easily be traced, hence recovered, by the concerned authority such as the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).

I have before now severally hammered on the urgent need for the various law enforcement agencies like the NPF to fully inculcate the use of tracking devices into its day-to-day bid in tackling different forms of grievous social ills, especially at this era when several criminals have gone so digital in their numerous nefarious activities.

It, therefore, suffices to opine that the INEC under the watch of Prof. Yakubu has thus far done well by thinking it wise to come up with this laudable initiative. However, in its quest for thorough utilization of the said electronic device, it’s required to take into cognizance some inevitable factors.

First, it’s expected to set up a special unit at its various states’ jurisdictions that would tactically handle every matter concerning the technicalities of the awaited practice. Such a unit must boast of the required materials as well as experts to ensure its holistic functionality and sustenance throughout the elections.

Among all, on no account should an outsider be contracted or hired to be in charge of the proposed unit, thus the commission needs to ensure that some of its staff in the technical section are duly trained and imbued with the requisite skills. Additionally, well tested softwares must be made available for the exercise to permit adequate monitoring of the moving vehicles.

Similarly, sometime last year, 20th March 2017 to be precise, the INEC during a media parley chaired by Prof. Yakubu, the authority disclosed that the results of the general elections would be collated and transmitted electronically towards replacing the existing manual mode of collation.

The commission’s Chairman stated thus, “INEC decides to securely transmit results from all polling units to central database such that only viewing access is allowed at the ward and local government levels, which ultimately eliminates manual collation processes.”

The INEC Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Mr. Chidi Nwafor who’s reportedly a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), informed the gathering that the electronic system in question has a flexible dashboard with real-time user interface showing graphical presentation of status of the results collated per given time.

He equally went further to disclose that the e-collation system has four procedures as follows: the results from polling units would be entered into the e-collation application on the smart card reader; secondly, the results would be transmitted to a central server; thirdly, they would be auto-collated and can be viewed at the ward level and can also be scanned at that level; and lastly, the results’ audit and confirmation shall take place at collation centres at LGAs, state and national levels.

With the analysis and explanations above, it’s imperative for the electoral umpire alongside other concerned bodies to acknowledge wholly that this is not rocket science, hence the compelling need not to place frivolities ahead of priorities as we eagerly await the innovation.

The commission has apparently discovered as well as test-run the viability of the impending electronic collation system, but it’s more pertinent for it to painstakingly consider the possible technical challenges that await its full implementation and usage.

In a country like ours where we are continually being taken aback as regards factors like power supply, software management cum maintenance and what have you, the concerned authorities ought not to be reminded that the aforementioned plans are greatly in need of unequalled pragmatic approach with a view to ensure their apt and adequate implementation as expected by the electorate.

It’s on this premise I urge the INEC as led by Prof. Yakubu to look inwards toward ensuring that the best brains herein are consulted as well as deployed in its seeming frantic efforts to conduct elections whose outcome would stand the test of time. Hence, the cognoscenti must not be relegated to the background in this regard.
As the voters’ hopes are already raised by the electoral umpire, the latter shouldn’t hesitate to collaborate with all the needed entities so that the uplifted optimism of the former wouldn’t be dashed come February 2019. Think about it!

Comrade Nwaozor, tech expert, policy analyst & rights activist,
and National Coordinator, Right Thinkers Movement, writes via
frednwaozor@gmail.com; Twitter: @mediambassador