Suliat Lawal
Former Vice-President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the Federal Government’s proposed N50,000 examination fee for candidates sitting the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and the National Examinations Council examination, warning that the policy would push millions of children out of school.
Atiku described the planned fee hike as insensitive and anti-poor, saying it would deny children from low- and middle-income families access to education and worsen Nigeria’s already alarming out-of-school children crisis.
The Federal Government had on June 18 approved a uniform examination fee of N50,000 for candidates sitting WAEC and NECO examinations from 2027, following a request by WAEC for an upward review of the registration fee from N27,500.
The Ministry of Education said the approval was reached after a meeting between the Minister of Education and examination bodies, directing both WAEC and NECO to adopt a uniform fee structure.
Reacting in a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the decision came at a time when Nigerians were already grappling with soaring inflation, rising food prices, high transportation costs, increased electricity tariffs and widespread unemployment.
“A government that genuinely believes in the future of its people does not erect financial barriers between children and education. It removes them,” Atiku said.
“Education is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy; it is the birthright of every Nigerian child and the foundation upon which prosperous nations are built.”
The former vice-president warned that increasing examination fees would further worsen Nigeria’s education deficit, noting that the country already has one of the largest populations of out-of-school children globally.
According to him, between 10.5 million and 15 million Nigerian children and youths are currently out of school, depending on the methodology used.
“Any government confronted with such a national emergency should be investing aggressively to bring these children back into school. Instead, this administration is choosing policies that will inevitably swell those numbers,” he said.
Atiku argued that the proposed fee increase would disproportionately affect poor households, many of whom already struggle to meet basic living expenses.
He warned that denying children access to education could fuel unemployment, poverty, child labour, criminality, drug abuse and insecurity.
“The consequences of these policies extend far beyond school gates. Every child priced out of education today becomes tomorrow’s victim of unemployment, poverty, child labour, criminal exploitation, drug abuse or insecurity,” he said.
The ADC presidential candidate also maintained that the policy would significantly reduce access to tertiary education, stressing that many brilliant but indigent students might never have the opportunity to compete for university admission.
He lamented that Nigerian universities currently admit between 500,000 and 700,000 candidates annually despite receiving over two million admission seekers every year.
According to him, more than one million qualified candidates are denied admission annually because of inadequate admission spaces.
He accused the Federal Government of worsening the situation by increasing fees for Federal Unity Colleges while also proposing a higher cost for WAEC and NECO examinations.
“Rather than addressing this structural deficit by expanding infrastructure and increasing admission capacity, the government is effectively constricting access even further through higher Unity School fees and the proposed N50,000 WAEC and NECO examination fee.
“The result is a cruel double punishment: first, millions of qualified young Nigerians cannot secure admission because there are insufficient spaces; second, many will now be priced out of even competing for those limited spaces.
