WAEC exams delays have once more thrown Nigerian students and their families into chaos. Parents in Lagos are up in arms after candidates sat for papers late into the night, repeating last year’s nightmare. The West African Examinations Council says it is working on the hitches, but many wonder why the same problems keep surfacing in Nigeria’s biggest student assessment.
This week in Lagos Island and Lekki, things went from bad to worse. Physics papers meant to end by 5pm stretched until 8pm on Monday. General Mathematics dragged on until 10pm on Wednesday. By Thursday, Agricultural Science Practical materials had still not arrived in some centres. Candidates waited hours, supervisors showed up late, and some schools even demanded extra cash for basic tools like maths sets.
A school principal who didn’t want his name used put it plainly: “Why are we experiencing this again after what happened last year?” Parents echoed the frustration. One Lekki mother said her child got home around 10pm, exhausted and worried about safety on dark roads. Social media lit up with complaints about lost focus, psychological strain, and the simple unfairness of it all.
A WAEC official confirmed the council knows about the “unforeseen circumstances” and is fixing them fast. No full public statement has come yet, but stakeholders want answers and concrete changes before the next round of papers.
The bigger worry is the toll on young minds preparing for a future already tough enough. Late nights, security fears, and disrupted routines hit hard in a country where education remains many families’ only ladder out of poverty. Last year’s similar delays left a bitter taste; this year’s repeat feels like a broken promise.
Education watchers say WAEC must sort logistics, question-paper distribution, and timing once and for all. Until then, parents will keep protesting and students will keep paying the price in lost sleep and added stress. Nigerians expect better from an examination body that shapes the dreams of millions.
