At least 15 people have recently returned
certificates issued to them by the West
African Examinations Council
(WAEC). They explained this action
by the fact they were cheating during
the examination, and now as Born Again Christians, they could not live
with "the sin." According to Saturday Sun, some of
the people had approached WAEC
through letters seeking restitution,
after they had confessed how they
dubiously acquired their certificates,
when they wrote the examinations at various periods. WAEC replied, stating that what they
were expected to do was to return the
certificates awarded in line with the
rules and regulations guiding the
conduct of the examinations. However,
only few responded, including a holder of Teachers' Grade 11
certificate. It has been revealed that those who
complied with the directive returned
their certificates to various WAEC
offices nationwide. The council took their case to the
Nigeria Examinations Committee
(NEC), which has cancelled the
returned 15 certificates at its 55th
meeting in Lagos. "The listed candidates, in their letters
of restitution, confessed that they were
involved in various forms of
examination malpractices in various
years as indicated against their
numbers. They have returned the original certificates issued to them," a
statement by NEC said. The returned certificates by the Born
Again Christians were for both the
May/June (school exam) and
November/December (private candidate)
West African Senior School Certificate
Examination (WASSCE). A breakdown of the year the
examinations were taken revealed that
the oldest dates back to June 1983
with certificate # SG 288999. The
next is dated June 1990 (RS0680084c)
, June 1992 (NGSS 0994156), June 1995 (NGSS0265147) and December
1995 (NGSP 0169397), December
1996 (NGSP 0575264), December
2000 (NGWASSCP 038771), June
2001 (NGWASSCS 2451037). Others are June 2002, two certificates
with NGWASSCP 4100224 and
NGWASSCS 3894794 were returned
and cancelled, June 2003
(NGWASSCS 5009313), June 2006
two born again Christian returned certificates with NGWASSCP
7747466 and NGWASSCS 8423755,
December 2008 (NGWASSCP
05790031) and June 2010
NGWASSCP 13327157. There are several Verses in the Bible to support restitution, which conform
to what the 15 Born Again Christians
did by confessing their sins and
sought restitution from WAEC. In 1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, this is faithful and just to
forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness". While Numbers 5:6-7 says: "When a
man or woman commits any of the sins
that people commit by breaking faith
with the Lord, and that person
realizes his guilt, he shall confess
his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his
wrong". The names and other details of the 15
confessed persons may not be
disclosed, as WAEC officials said it
would amount to violation of the
rights of the individuals involved
and that of commission's ethics.

Diz iz my first time of hearing this kind of news. In fact, it makes me dumb.