Activist and politician, Aisha Yesufu, has called on the Nigerian government to stop students from paying fees for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) examinations.
Yesufu argued that access to quality education is a fundamental right of every Nigerian child and that examination fees should not be a burden on students and their families.
Her comments followed the Federal Government’s approval of an increase in WAEC and NECO Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) fees to N50,000 per candidate from 2027.
The approval was contained in a memo dated June 18, 2026, issued by the Federal Ministry of Education and signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education, Adeniji Ibrahim, on behalf of the ministry.
Reacting to the development, Yesufu stated via her X account that no Nigerian student should be responsible for paying WAEC and NECO fees.
“No student in Nigeria should be paying for WAEC and NECO. Good quality education should be a right Nigerian children enjoy,” she said.
She added that primary and secondary education provides greater benefits to the state than individuals, warning that the consequences of having an uneducated population could be costly for the country.
“The cost of an uneducated populace is too high for a state,” Yesufu stated.
Samuel Agada is a writer and media contributor from Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. He is a graduate of Biochemistry from the University of Jos and a former banker with GTBank and FCMB. A prolific writer, songwriter, educator, and Gospel preacher, he is passionate about informing, inspiring, and impacting society through his work.