09/08/2026
DON'T BE AN AGENT OF DESTRUCTION OF DESTINIES
_An Appeal to Teachers, Supervisors, Custodians, Markers, School Owners, and Examination Bodies in Nigeria_
We are born to soar.
But some of us, with the pen in our hand and authority in our voice, are clipping the wings of the very eagles we are meant to raise.
For 18 years a child sits in class. 18 years of notebooks, uniforms, early mornings, homework, and dreams. 18 years to sit for SSCE and step into the next phase of life.
Yet in one examination hall, in one marking room, in one supervisor’s decision, that 18-year journey can be destroyed. Not because the child did not learn. But because of us.
THE PAIN WE MUST SEE
1. The Extortion: "Pay me or I will fail you." Demanding gratification before allowing a child to write freely. Turning examination halls into markets.
2. The Intimidation: Shouting, banging tables, creating fear. A child’s brain freezes not because he doesn’t know, but because he is terrified. We call it "strictness". God calls it wickedness.
3. The Bribe Mentality: "If your school doesn’t entertain us, we will mark you down." "If you don’t settle us, your students must fail." And when the bribe doesn’t come, innocent children carry the punishment.
4. The Forgotten Truth: Examination is NOT the true test of knowledge. It is one test, on one day, under pressure. It cannot measure talent, character, grit, or the God-given destiny in a child.
WHO ARE WE REALLY?
To Teachers:You are a builder, not a breaker. The child in front of you may be the next doctor who will save your grandchild, the next engineer who will fix our roads, the next leader who will change Nigeria.
To Supervisors & Custodians:You are a guardian of fairness, not a gatekeeper of extortion. Your silence when evil happens makes you a part of it.
To Markers of Exam Papers: You hold destinies in red pen. Mark with justice. A missing comma is not a missing future.
To School Owners: Do not sell your students to "settle" examiners. Integrity is your true brand.
To Examination Bodies: Put systems that protect children from predators in uniform. Monitor, sanction, and reward integrity.
KINDNESS AND EMPATHY IN THE HALL
Kindness is not "expo". Kindness is:
- Speaking calmly so a nervous child can remember what he studied
- Giving clear instructions without shouting
- Marking scripts knowing that behind every paper is a mother who sold garri to pay fees
- Remembering that you too were once a candidate with shaking hands
Empathy is asking: "If this was my child, how would I want him to be treated?"
THE CHOICE BEFORE US
Every exam season, we choose:
Will we be agents of elevation or agents of destruction of destinies?
You cannot pray for Nigeria to rise and still be the reason a child fails.
You cannot wear "teacher" as a title and wear "destroyer" as an attitude.
Nigeria does not need more failures. Nigeria needs more men and women who will protect dreams.
Let us go back to the classroom and hall with new eyes.
Let us do our work with fear of God, with fairness, and with heart.
Because at the end, we will all give account. Not just to WAEC, NECO, NABTEB. But to God, and to the children whose future passed through our hands.
WE ARE BORN TO SOAR. DON’T CUT OUT WINGS.
Happy Sunday!
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