By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The West African Examinations Council, (WAEC) has said that standardization of questions and integrity of test administration were the critical value addition it has brought to bear in the on-going yearly national quiz competition of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Head of WAEC Office, Nigeria, Mr Isaac Olu Adenipekun, who spoke in Ado Ekiti, over the weekend at the Zonal final of the quiz competition for states in the South West comprising Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Oyo, explained that three layers of subject specialists worked on the five subject areas of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English, set for the on-going nationwide competition.
According to Mr Adenipekun, who was represented at the event by Deputy Registrar, Test Development Division of the examinations body, Mr Ayo Oyejide, respective external subject specialists developed the questions, which integrity, he added was further enhanced by another set of specialists who moderated them.
Mr Adenipekun said WAEC internal subject area specialists were the third layer of specialists which edited and compiled the questions.
At the end of the South West zonal final, two states, Ogun and Ondo, with a score tie, emerged first, with Lagos technically coming third. The three would knock horns with their counterparts from other five zones in Abuja in October.
Speaking further on the value addition that WAEC had brought to bear on the quiz competition, Mr Adenipekun said WAEC had boosted the credibility of the exercise, saying no participant had access to the questions prior to each of the zonal competition.
He expressed delight on the collaboration with NNPC over the competition, saying it was the beginning of fruitful future partnership.
Delivering a speech during exercise, NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division (GPAD), Mr Ndu Ughamadu, said the increase in monetary value of the scholarship awards to N300,000, N250,000 and N200,000 for first, second and third place winners at grand finale respectively, to cover every year of an awardee’s tertiary education, as well as the one-off N100,000 grant to state winners, was the additional innovation introduced at this year’s edition of the competition.
Mr Ughamadu, who was represented at the event by Mr Gboyega Bello of GPAD, stated that given the imperative of science, technology and engineering as necessary tools to conquer the universe, NNPC was encouraged to foster the learning of these branches of knowledge through the competition, as the fulcrum of the Corporation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project aimed at nation-building.
Also speaking at the occasion, Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Professor Olusola Olubunmi, expressed appreciations to NNPC for giving the state the opportunity to host the South West arm of the competition, stressing that the state attached premium to education and was ready to collaborate with any institution or individual who shares this position.
Prof Olubunmi, who was represented at the event by Mrs Folu Ayoleso, Director, Technology, Technology Ministry of Education in the state, said the state had invested heavily in education in recent times which had in turn made its candidates to emerge best in National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations for two consecutive years, starting from last year, adding that they had also recorded 75 per cent pass in their WAEC examinations.
So far, the zonal level competition had been concluded in South-South, South East and South West zones, with the rest to be executed next week, starting with North East.
The 15th NNPC National Quiz Competition would culminate in a grand finale slated for October this year in Abuja.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Dipo Olowookere