Nigeria’s “Miracle Examination Centers” Undermining Education Quality, Integrity: Catholic Bishops of Owerri Province

Owerri, 12 August, 2025 / 3:40 PM

Persistent examination malpractice in Nigeria has been cited as a major pastoral concern that has continued to undermine the quality of education and the integrity of secondary education.

In a statement following a two-day meeting that concluded on August 6, the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria’s Ecclesiastical Province of Owerri lamented the prevalence of examination “fraud” carried out through what they termed “Miracle Examination Centers.”

“In 2012, our country Nigeria ranked first in the global examination malpractice index and one of the reasons for this is the prevalence of examination fraud,” they say in their statement published on August 9.

The Catholic Church leaders specifically highlight the practice of "Miracle Examination Centers" (MECs), whereby students are assisted by their parents to register for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Commission (NECO) in either private or rural secondary schools for an inflated fee, and the promise of success irrespective of merit.

The Local Ordinary of Owerri Catholic Archdiocese and his counterparts in Dioceses of Aba, Ahiara, Okigwe, Orlu, and Umuahia express concern that these MECs have existed unabated for decades “as open secrets.”

At the heart of the phenomenon, they observe lies a “triad of complicity” involving school proprietors, parents, and a permissive society that has normalized the buying of examination success. 

“These actors have normalized a culture where examination success can be bought, supervised by corrupt invigilators, and certified by compromised systems. The tragedy is that everyone pretends that this is education,” the Catholic Church leaders say their four-page document.

The Catholic Church leaders describe the normalization of examination malpractices as counterproductive and say that this has eaten into the fabrics of the Nigeria’s national life, especially that of youths, who “are exposed so early to a system of evaluation that is based on asymmetric opportunities.”

In their statement, the Catholic Bishops of Owerri Province also condemn some private school owners and unscrupulous secondary school principals practice to allow these young children “to access questions online while bribing officials, or to utilise 'proxy' candidates while threatening examiners with bodily harm.”

“We must not keep quiet while these rogue schools and unscrupulous Principals continue to undermine academic excellence and integrity just for the sake of material profit,” they state, emphasizing the need for “Parents and Teachers Associations (PTA), community-based groups, examination regulatory bodies, state ministries of education to join hands” in promoting examination integrity in their states.

To safeguard the integrity of education, Local Ordinaries of Oweri Province say both the national and regional governments must “enforce the 1999 Examination Malpractice Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which criminalizes examination malpractice and specifies jail terms and fines for offenders.”

They further call for the immediate identification and blacklisting of all the rogue schools and corrupt school Principals.

“Our children must be taught to develop good study habits, to prefer integrity to cheating, to avoid peer pressure and to recognize the value of hard work in every success-story,” the Catholic Bishops say.

In their seven-point statement issued under the title, “On Some Burning Pastoral Issues”, they condemn the actions of parents who coerce children into disciplines that do not match their aptitude and capacities, saying, “These are some of the drivers of these 'Miracle Examination Centers'.”  

“We must state, unequivocally, that any form of examination malpractice must not be tolerated in our Catholic schools,” they say in the statement that the Archbishop of the Owerri Metropolitan See Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji and the Bishop of Aba Diocese, Augustine Ndubueze Echema, co-signed.