Aisha Yesufu Calls For Free WAEC And NECO Registration For All Nigerian Students

Popular Nigerian activist, Aisha Yesufu, has insisted that students across the country should not be required to pay for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations, describing quality education as a fundamental right.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Her comments come after the Federal Government approved a new ₦50,000 registration fee for candidates sitting the WAEC and NECO Senior School Certificate Examinations, with implementation initially scheduled to begin in 2027.

The approval was contained in a memo dated June 18, 2026, signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education, Adeniji Ibrahim, on behalf of the ministry.

However, following widespread public criticism, the Federal Government suspended the planned fee increase.

In a statement issued by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade, the government explained that the decision to suspend the new fee was made after considering concerns and feedback from Nigerians.

Reacting to the development in a post on , Yesufu maintained that access to quality education should never be determined by a student’s ability to pay examination fees.

According to the activist, every Nigerian child deserves free access to primary and secondary education, including external examinations such as WAEC and NECO.

She argued that investing in education ultimately benefits the country, noting that the long-term consequences of an uneducated population far outweigh the cost of providing free education.

“No student in Nigeria should be paying for WAEC and NECO. Good quality education should be a right Nigerian children enjoy,” she wrote.

Yesufu added that, “Primary and secondary education is more beneficial to the state than the people. The cost of an uneducated populace is too high for a State.”