Following his recent payment of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination fees for 4,000 indigent students in Ogun State and calls for a similar intervention for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West) has sponsored the WAEC fees for 2,000 indigent students for the upcoming 2026 examination across the state.
The number of beneficiaries, which could have exceeded 2,000, was limited due to the inability of some students to obtain their Learners’ Identification Number (LIN) before the registration deadline set by WAEC, which expired on Tuesday night.
The beneficiaries, whose parents and guardians could not afford the examination fees, were drawn from 218 schools across the state. Of the total, 90 schools are from Ogun West Senatorial District, 68 from Ogun East, and 60 from Ogun Central.
Among the local government areas, Abeokuta South and Ado-Odo/Ota recorded the highest number of beneficiaries, with 416 and 403 students respectively.
Senator Adeola said he became aware of the students’ predicament through discussions with constituents who had earlier commended him for sponsoring JAMB registrations.
He noted that more students would have benefited if the information had reached him earlier before the WAEC registration deadline.
“I got to know about the plight of these students from a top government official in my district who said that just as many parents and guardians could not afford the cheaper JAMB fee of N7,200, many others also struggle to pay the higher WAEC examination fees for their wards,” he said.
“For me, it is a guiding principle that lack of finance must not be an impediment to the educational advancement of our children. I decided to intervene immediately, but the number of beneficiaries would have been higher if not for the registration deadline,” he added.
The senator reaffirmed his commitment to human capital development, saying he would continue to support education through the provision of educational infrastructure, scholarships, bursaries, and other philanthropic interventions, including the payment of examination fees for indigent students.
Principals of beneficiary schools commended the senator for the intervention, describing it as a relief, particularly at a time when some brilliant students risk missing crucial qualifying examinations due to financial constraints.
