Protest rocks nursing school entrance exam as authorities try prevent Tinubu scenario
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Applicants prevented from writing a nursing school entrance examination in Umuahia over alleged forged West African Examination Council (WAEC) Ordinary Level (OL) results have protested despite explanation provided by Abia Health Commissioner Ngozi Okoronkwo.
She said the results were screened to prevent admitting students with fake documents which could later cause embarrassment.
Certificate forgery, especially among the political elite, is common in Nigeria, up to the highest seat of power in Aso Rock, being occupied by Bola Tinubu who forged his OL result with which he gained admission to South West College Chicago in the 1970s, according to court filings.
Tinubu later attended Chicago State University (CSU) but court filings also show CSU denied issuing his forged degree certificate.
The Supreme Court in Nigeria did not clear Tinubu of alleged identity theft, certificate forgery, and perjury but instead found a way to retain him in office as President, to the embarrassment of Nigerians at home and abroad.
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Kperogi joins Atiku to demand for reckoning for Tinubu over certificate fiasco
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Claims of unjustified rejection
Some who were stopped from participating in the re-ordered Preliminary Test Session (PTS) in the nursing school entrance examination for allegedly presenting forged WAEC results claimed they were unjustifiably screened out by the authorities, per reporting by Daily Post.
However, Okoronkwo explained only those whose OL results were verified and confirmed to be authentic qualified to participate in the first day of the entrance examination which began on Monday.
She said measures were put in place to ensure the exercise is conducted in a transparent manner.
The fresh examination, being held at a popular Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre in Umuahia, was nearly disrupted on Monday when nursing students in uniform tried to stop the exercise while protesting their exclusion from writing the test.
The protesters included some of the 75 “successful” students whose results were cancelled, especially those from Amachara School of Nursing.
Some insisted their results are genuine, others said the message informing them to come with their original WAEC results came a few hours before the re-sit examination.
Another group disclosed they had submitted their OL results even before they were offered preliminary admission to study nursing.
But Okoronkwo insisted a verification process was implemented to ensure only those whose OL results were found authentic were allowed to write the examination.
She said school principals were advised to ensure their students came with their original WAEC results for screening, and those with fake results were rejected.
She also disclosed a transparency mechanism is in place to release the nursing school entrance examination result soon after taking it, with the applicants signing their results before leaving the centre, to avoid claims of result manipulation.
The examination continues until Thursday, according to the state Ministry of Health.