The examination results of blind candidates who sat for the May/June 2026 West African Examination Council (WAEC) Senior School Certificate Examination are yet to be released, nearly 2 weeks after those of other (sighted) students have been released.
These blind candidates will not be able to process their admission into the tertiary institutions of their choice due to the delay in the release of their results. For instance, any of these blind candidates whose choice is the University of Ilorin will miss his/her admission into that University because the University of Ilorin is closing the uploading and verification of WAEC results into its admission portal by 3:00 p.m. today, Friday, 21st August 2026.
The delay or late release of the WAEC results of blind candidates is not new. This has been the practice for decades. Several blind candidates have lost admission into tertiary institutions to further their education due to these delays. Due to the psychological effect of this, many blind students have either struggled to pursue tertiary education or lost out completely on the opportunity to pursue tertiary education.
Blind students sit for their WAEC exams at the same time as their sighted colleagues – no reasons will be acceptable for the delay in the release of WAEC results of blind candidates. This situation is considered unjust, discriminatory, unfair and unkind to blind students who put in so much to go through secondary education despite all the inclusivity and accessibility challenges they are confronted with. Delay in the release of WAEC of blind students is an abuse of their rights to equal educational opportunity enjoyed by their sighted counterparts.
Justice delayed is justice denied! Every WAEC examination result of blind candidates delayed is a total denial of the rights of these candidates to equal educational opportunity, equity, fairness and justice. This is a clear breach of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018, the National Policy on Inclusive Education, the National Policy on Education, and every other relevant legal and policy frameworks which guarantee the educational rights of all Nigerians, including those with disabilities.
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) should immediately, without further delay, release the complete results of all blind candidates for the May/June 2026 Senior Secondary School Examination. WAEC should ensure that all the examination scripts of blind candidates are properly and carefully marked and graded to avoid any errors. It is also important that WAEC should do all within its powers to ensure that blind candidates are not victimised due to this public demand for equity, fairness, accountability, transparency and responsibility. WAEC should ensure that the rights of blind candidates are protected and promoted in all its conduct.
Convening a multi-stakeholder consultation could be one of the required strategic actions towards permanently resolving the lingering problem of delays in the release of results of blind candidates. WAEC should invite and engage with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Federal and State governments, including Federal Ministry of Education and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities; Experts and practitioners in special education, including teachers, service providers and parents; organisations of persons with disabilities, including the Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB) and the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD).
There is also the need to develop and implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the Administration of Examinations for Candidates with Disabilities. This document will provide all the standard practices to guide all stakeholders involved in the conduct of exams for candidates with disabilities, including those who are blind.
Finally, this is a call on WAEC to take immediate action to reverse this very embarrassing situation without victimising the affected blind candidates. It is outrightly unacceptable that in 21st-century Nigeria, we’re still dealing with these kinds of issues. Organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), disability rights advocates, human rights advocates, Experts and practitioners, parents and, indeed, the Nigerian public should rise up to speak against this act of injustice against blind candidates of the May/June 2026 WAEC Senior Secondary School Examination.
Any further delay in the release of the blind Candidates will be followed by coordinated peaceful public protest and other necessary legal actions to demand the rights of these unfortunate WAEC blind candidates.
Dr. Adebukola Adebayo is a Specialist in Disability-Inclusive Development, Governance and Public Policy. He is the Founder and Chief Consultant at Inclusive Development Consults Limited, Nigeria.
