YABATECH dean introduces ₦1M ‘WAEC’ award to combat exams malpractice

Out of the participating faculties, two departments emerged successful:

• The Department of Architecture
• The Department of Transport Planning and Management

The two winning departments jointly shared the ₦1 million prize money. Notably, the funds were presented directly to the respective departmental student associations rather than the heads of departments, emphasizing that the monetary reward belongs to the student body for upholding academic integrity.

Social Dangers of Academic Fraud and ‘Miracle Centres’

Emphasizing the wider societal implications of academic dishonesty, Aladeloba classified examination malpractice as a critical crime that compromises professional competence and public safety.

He warned that individuals who acquire qualifications through fraudulent means pose severe risks to human life when placed in technical fields such as medicine, engineering, and building construction.

The Dean expressed concern over the societal obsession with paper credentials in Nigeria, noting that the undue emphasis on certificates has fuelled the proliferation of illegal examination hubs commonly known as “miracle centres.”

He called on relevant government and security agencies to aggressively target and prosecute operators of such centres, while advocating for a systemic shift in the national education framework from mere paper qualifications toward verifiable competence, technical skills, and practical value creation.

In this regard, he praised recent Federal Government initiatives aimed at prioritizing vocational training and skill acquisition.

Institutional Impact and Broader Adoption

According to the Dean, the introduction of the WAEC Award has already generated healthy peer accountability among students, with various departmental leaderships actively urging their peers to refrain from cheating in order to qualify for future editions.

Aladeloba expressed optimism that the preventive reward model could serve as a scalable framework for other tertiary institutions across Nigeria seeking to uphold academic standards and eliminate examination misconduct.