From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Master Igbacha Loveday Michael was one of the students who sat for the May/June 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). He attended Community Secondary School (C.S.S.), Bolo, Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State. He was the Senior Prefect of the school.
Education Report gathered that he was a brilliant student. When West African Examinations Council (WAEC) released the results, Igbacha’s purported “result” was circulated in the social media, indicating he scored “A1” in all the nine subjects he sat for.
But when our Correspondent visited the school, it was a different story. The reporter had hoped that the authenticity of the boy’s result would be ascertained. Unfortunately, neither the principal, nor the vice was in school to attend to him. He also tried to see the student, his parent(s) or guardian, but none of them were at home.
When the reporter mentioned Igbacha’s result, two of the teachers readjusted their seats and suspended what they were doing. Their expression told the story.
A source, who craved to remain anonymous because he was not permitted to speak on the matter, said the purported nine “A1” posted on the social media allegedly scored by their former school prefect was a scam.
The source said when the result was posted on social media, some people, even government officials came to the school to confirm the authenticity of the result: “Though Igbacha is a brilliant boy, but that is not his real result. The school authority invited him for verification. He denied the result posted online and also wrote a disclaimer.”
Another source said the school would not accept hook-line-and-sinker when students said they scored certain grades until WAEC sent the computer sheet of the result. He showed students’ cards bearing their pictures, used to check their results after the examination body announced the release of results.
All the pieces of information on Igbacha were correct, except the grades made. These are the actual grades he scored.Data Processing C4; Christian Religious Studies B2; History C6; Civic Education B3; English Language B3; Mathematics A1, Biology B3; Chemistry B3 and Physics B3.
Since this development, the former school prefect, who registered for the 2020 National Examinations Council (NECO) refused to sit for the examination. All entreaties for him to take part in the examination were rebuffed.
“We begged him to sit for the examination, but he refused. He said he is afraid that he may be arrested by security agents.
“The fact is that, we don’t know who is behind all this, since the boy has denied knowledge of the result. It has caused a big embarrassment not only to the boy, but also to the school and government.
“When this information on his result was posted online, government officials came for confirmation. Also, there was a particular group that came, indicating interest to offer him university scholarship,” a source disclosed.
Igbacha’s disclaimer
“It has come to my knowledge that there was a publication about me scoring straight As in my WAEC, flying on social media. I hereby disclaim that rumour as it is unlawful and incriminating; fake news from where no one knows it source.
“Yes, it’s a great honour scoring straight As but I am really proud getting 6B s 2Cs and a single A, that’s not too bad for a senior prefect to score. I urge the general public to disregard any publication about me making 9As, also to everyone who has directly or indirectly promoted the false information to debunk such publications, and share this post to guide the public.
“I have no hand in the false news that was posted in the social media, and I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience it may have caused anyone.”