From Doubt to Dominance: How NECO Silenced Its Critics in 25 Years

When NECO first came on the scene 25 years ago, plenty of Nigerians were not convinced. The National Examinations Council had a serious trust deficit on its hands from day one. People had grown up knowing only WAEC, and here was this new body asking them to bet their children's futures on an untested system. It was not an easy sail.

But a quarter of a century later, NECO is not begging for recognition anymore. The council gathered in Abuja to mark its 25th anniversary, and the numbers they brought to the table spoke for themselves.

Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, NECO registrar, set the tone early, reminding the audience why the council was created in the first place:

"NECO was established to democratise access to examinations, provide a credible alternative assessment body and build indigenous capacity in educational evaluation."

He did not shy away from describing the mess NECO inherited when it entered the scene:

Its establishment redefined the architecture of secondary school certification in Nigeria. In 1999, NECO entered the Nigerian educational landscape burdened by examination failures, malpractices, and overdependence on a single regional assessment body."

But from that shaky foundation, something solid was built. As Wushishi told the gathering:

"Twenty-five years later, NECO stands as one of Africa's most extensive, technologically-driven, and nationally-rooted assessment institutions, having conducted examinations for tens of millions of Nigerians, expanded its operations to nine countries, and undergone sweeping digital transformation."

Through its flagship examinations; BECE, SSCE, NCEE, and the National Gifted Examination, the council has touched millions of Nigerian lives in real, tangible ways:

"Through its flagship examinations... the council has impacted millions of lives by opening doors to higher education, employment and self-actualisation."

On the matter of integrity, which has always been the sore point of Nigerian examinations, Wushishi was direct:

"Yet, the true measure of NECO's relevance lies not only in the scale of its operations, but also in the consistency of its values. In a context where examination malpractice has often threatened the credibility of assessment systems, NECO's commitment to integrity has remained unwavering."

He added that the council understands that many institutions in Nigeria forget that a certificate is only worth the trust people place in it:

"The council's continuous investment in security protocols, monitoring mechanisms, and public enlightenment demonstrated it understands that the value of any certificate depends on the trust it commands."

If you want to understand what NECO has done for Nigerian education, look at the data.

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Over 28 million candidates registered for NECO examinations in 25 years. More than 27 million of them actually sat. In the year 2000, about 890,729 candidates wrote the examinations. By 2025, that figure had climbed to 1,358,329, a growth of 52.5 per cent.

The pass rates are even more telling. In 2000, 55.84 per cent of candidates obtained a minimum of five credits. By 2025, that figure had risen to 84.26 per cent. The percentage of candidates with credits in both English Language and Mathematics, the combination every Nigerian parent and employer watches, went from 25 per cent in 2000, crashed to 8.25 per cent in 2011 during the system's darkest period, then recovered sharply to 60.26 per cent by 2025. That is a recovery story.

On the gender front, NECO's data reveals a shift that many might find surprising. The council explained:

"Male candidates initially outperformed their female counterparts, but the figures began to change along the way. In 2000, male candidates recorded 57.14 per cent participation, while female participation stood at 54.30 per cent. However, from the early 2000s, the trend gradually changed. By the mid-2000s, female candidates consistently outperformed males in both overall pass rates and core subject performance."

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By 2025, female participation sat at 87.48 per cent while male participation dropped to 81.04 per cent. Female candidates have also maintained an edge in both English and Mathematics in recent years.

NECO described what it called a major structural shift in gender performance:

"Male candidates had a clear advantage between 2000 and 2005, while the mid-2000s marked a transition period characterised by convergence in performance levels. However, between 2015 and 2025, female candidates sustained a clear advantage."

The council interpreted this as a reflection of the broader progress Nigerian girls have made in education:

"The development suggests significant improvements in female educational attainment, retention, progression and examination preparedness. Despite historically lower participation levels, female candidates have not only matched but also surpassed male performance in recent years."

And in a country where people often blame the system for favouring one group over another, NECO's data offered a different verdict:

"The trend indicated that the examination system does not exhibit systemic gender bias and that learning outcome gains have been inclusive, with women increasingly taking the lead. Gender is no longer the major factor driving inequality in examination outcomes."

The council, however, was quick to note that the work is not done. Geographic inequality remains a challenge, and the data showed:

"In 2000, high performance was concentrated in a few states. But by 2010, there was a widespread collapse in performance levels nationwide. However, by 2025, there was broad-based improvement and a more even distribution of performance across states."

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The state-level breakdown is where the story gets interesting, and in some cases, uncomfortable.

Back in 2000, the strong states were Bayelsa (62.26%), Ogun (51.37%), and Rivers (49.09%). Many other states were recording less than 10 per cent in Mathematics and English combined numbers, which should embarrass anyone.

By 2010, even the leaders had fallen. Bayelsa, the top performer, could only manage 27.74 per cent. The whole system was struggling.

But by 2025, the recovery was real and widespread. Abia led the country with 83.31 per cent, followed by Imo at 83.09 per cent and Ebonyi at 80.60 per cent. Abia's story is particularly dramatic, from 4.82 per cent in 2000 to 83.31 per cent in 2025. That is not little progress. That is a transformation.

Anambra climbed from 8.33 per cent to 76.80 per cent. Ogun and Rivers maintained relatively solid performances across the years. States like Sokoto and Zamfara improved, but still sit among the lower-performing states, proof that the North-South educational gap has not fully closed.

NECO was frank about why these differences persist:

"The divergent trajectories underscore the uneven nature of educational development across states and highlight the need for targeted, context-specific interventions."

Infrastructure, teacher quality, and poverty were cited as key factors.

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The End of NECO's Monopoly

Perhaps NECO's most consequential contribution to Nigerian education has been the one least discussed, breaking WAEC's stranglehold on secondary school certification.

Wushishi put it plainly:

"Before 1999, WAEC administered senior secondary examinations for the entire country. It was a body headquartered outside Nigeria and designed to serve multiple Anglophone West African countries simultaneously. Critics had long argued that the arrangement compromised Nigeria's educational sovereignty and left the system poorly aligned with domestic curriculum priorities. NECO changed that."

By introducing competition, NECO forced the system to become more responsive to Nigerian needs:

"The council grew its internal SSCE candidature from about 890,000 in 2000 to over 1.2 million in 2022, with cumulative participation exceeding 24 million candidates. BECE expanded from 35,259 candidates in year 2000 to 161,550 candidates in 2022, representing a cumulative total of over 2.1 million candidates. NECO made examinations more affordable, introduced governance reforms, strengthened institutional integrity, and implemented measures aimed at curbing examination malpractice."

Today, NECO conducts examinations in nine countries, including the Benin Republic, the Niger Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Togo, Burkina Faso, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. A body that Nigerians once doubted is now carrying the Nigerian examination flag abroad.