Exams malpractice: Blind Association dismisses WAEC’s allegation against members

The National President of the Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB), Adamu Ishiyaku Gombe has dismissed an allegation by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) that blind persons collude to cheat during WAEC examinations.

According to Mr. Adamu, it is unacceptable to stereotype blind Nigerians as exam cheats just because a couple have been found wanting. “Nigeria cannot make progress until our citizens embrace honesty, integrity and hardwork as a basic principle of daily life”, he said.

The National President of NAB, while speaking to Journalists recently, described the allegation as unacceptable and said the association was demanding a public apology from WAEC over the carpet denting of the image of the entire blind persons in Nigeria.

Mr. Ishiyaku explained that the conclusion attributed to one Mrs. Frances Iweha-Onukwu, a WAEC official, which was reported in some national dailies, may create the unfortunate and misleading impression that blind people are prone to cheat at examinations.

He said, “at the Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB), we deplore any cheating at examinations, wether the cheat is blinded or a sighted person and we do not see any evidence to suggest that blind people are more likely to cheat than anyone else. This report, however well intentioned, is more likely to damage the fragile position of blind people in education and employment if they are perceived as cheats”.

He added that “unfortunately, examination cheating is a widely reported malpractice, a symptom of the general malaise of our society and one of the symptoms of the more general corruption that we fight against”.

Mr. Ishiyaku said blind people are citizens of Nigeria and are subjected to the same stresses and pressures as their sighted counterparts and advised that all cheats be found out, punished and the phenomenon rooted out.

“We call upon officials of WAEC, the Federal and State Ministries of Education, The Nigerian Education and Research and Development Council and other stakeholders to address this issue with us”, the National President suggested.