As he prepares to bow out as Head of the Nigeria National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Dr. Amos Josiah Dangut has highlighted a string of reforms and technological innovations that he said transformed the Council into one of Africa’s most technologically advanced examination bodies.
Speaking while announcing the release of the 2026 WASSCE results in Lagos on Wednesday, Dangut described his nearly three-year tenure as one marked by bold innovation and institutional transformation. “Within my two years and ten months in office, I was able to add more feathers to the Council’s cap through the help of God. We were able to position the Council as the first examining body in Africa and among the first set globally to conduct achievement test using the computer-based mode.”
He traced the digital transition from the Computer-Based WASSCE for Private Candidates in 2024 to its eventual extension to school candidates.According to him, the computer-based model has significantly strengthened efforts to combat examination malpractice.
Beyond digital examinations, Dangut said WAEC also introduced the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS), a technology that has accelerated script marking and improved result processing. “To ensure that candidates’ results are being processed and released in a more seamless manner, we introduced the Digital Examiner Mark System (DEMS); this has helped to improve the service delivery and save time in processing results.”
Another milestone, according to him, was the expansion of the WAEC Press, culminating in the establishment of a full-fledged Printing Division. “We successfully expanded the WAEC Press, which led to the creation of Printing Division. This became necessary when we noticed that some of our printing needs were not properly handled by press houses we entrusted with such responsibility.”
Dangut also pointed to the introduction and continuous improvement of question paper serialisation, saying the initiative has become another potent weapon against examination malpractice.
The outgoing WAEC chief equally announced several digital services introduced under his watch, including the Digital Certificate platform, online result PIN generation, electronic past questions, WAEC e-Study platform, WAECKonnect mobile application, WAEC Verify service, the WAEC Chatbot and expanded computer-based testing services.
The WAECKonnect application, he said, offers an AI assistant, discussion forums, examination tips, revision materials, scholarship information and practice tests for candidates.He also noted that candidates can now obtain their digital certificates within 48 hours of checking their results, a significant departure from the long waiting period that previously characterised certificate issuance.
Reflecting on the successful conduct of the 2026 examination, Dangut acknowledged that the exercise experienced some operational difficulties but maintained that the Council’s innovations had fundamentally changed examination administration in Nigeria. “The story has been amazing. It has helped in combating the menace of examination malpractice.”
As he concludes his tenure, Dangut expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, the Ministry of Education, security agencies, examination officials, schools, the media and other stakeholders for supporting what he described as one of the most transformative periods in WAEC Nigeria’s history.