Nigerian Law School Exam Leaked

[TGD]

After several ploys to cover up the examination malpractice at the Nigerian Law School, it has been confirmed that the Corporate Law and Practice Paper was leaked at the 2010 Bar final examination, according to an official Investigation Committee.

The Committee — the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring Unit (ACTU) — is a standing panel inaugurated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) with a mandate to probe and expose corrupt practices within the Law School.

In the course of its investigation of allegation of leakage of the Bar final examination, ACTU confirmed that not only did the paper on Corporate Law and Practice leak, but also that the Director-General of the School, Dr. Mamman Tahir, had prior knowledge of leakage of the said paper.

But a close aide of the Director-General has denied the allegation. According to the aide: "ACTU is entitled to whatever conclusions it wished to draw. The respected Director-General would not be dragged into that controversy, as it is needless and distracting.

"Besides, the Council is into a full-scale probe of the alleged malpractice and would be out with its report soon."

ACTU, headed by the Director of Administration at the Law School, Mrs. Rita Areh, also blamed the leakage of the paper on Dr. Tahir's lack of supervision of the personnel involved in the processing of the examination papers.

The committee that noted the D-G intermittently excused himself from the processing room, to take some breather.

The Investigation Panel expressed disappointment that the Director-General, who had prior knowledge of the exam leakage, would prefer to turn a deaf ear to it as against the better judgment of cancelling the paper and preparing a fresh one.

In a graphic description of how the Corporate Law and Practice Paper was leaked, ACTU said unknown to others, the Personal Assistant to the Director-General, Mr. Bello Bala, had sent the papers electronically to the computer set in the office of the Chairman of Council, whose spare key he (Bala) had access to.

Bala was also found to have been leaving the examination papers' processing room frequently, under the guise of having a running stomach, in a bid to execute his sinister plot.

According to a copy of the ACTU Investigation Report signed by the five-man panel and obtained by The Guardian, the following findings were made:

• The question paper of Wednesday, 11 August 2010 — Corporate Law and Practice — was scanned onto the computer desktop in the Chairman's office.

• All the pages of the examination papers were scanned between 3.07am and 3.11 am, roughly twelve hours before the scheduled time of the examination at 3.00pm.

• Though instructions were given for the disabling of the Internet Services in the main Admin. Block, the ones in the Chairman's, DG's Secretary's and Personal Assistant's offices were on and operational.

• Only the Personal Assistant, Mr. Bello Bala, knew of the existence of the Internet services in the LAN, and operation in his and the Chairman's office.

• The P.A to the DG, Mr. Bello Bala was confirmed to be frequently excusing himself from the examination work to go to the Chairman's toilet to ease himself while there is toilet in the DG's office (where the exam papers were being processed).

• The Personal Assistant is confirmed to have a spare key to the Chairman of Council's office and he was the one that brought in a scanner to the office, though he denied it.

• On the day of this particular examination i.e. August 11, 2010, he was found by Mr. Mamman to be using the desktop before Mamman inquired about the existence of Internet service on it, which Mr. Bello Bala confirmed.

• Based on the affirmative response, Mr. Mamman then decided to browse the Internet and at that point discovered the question paper for the day and the pages, which were saved as pictures.

• Mr. Mamman alerted the other staff working with him, Mr. Ukekwe, who reported the matter to the Director General later in the day.

• The Director General, on the eve of the next paper, sent away his Secretary, Mrs. Adeniran and his Personal Assistant, Mr. Bello Bala from the venue of the examination processing and invited the Director Personnel, Mrs. Areh and her secretary, Mrs. Afolabi to take up their positions.

• On August 13, 2010, the Chairman of ACTU, Mrs. Areh, took possession of the Computer Desktop where the question paper was scanned into for safekeeping and further investigation.

• The Director General was informed of the alleged examination leakage before the affected paper was taken.

• The Corporate Law and Practice examination paper of August 11, 2010 leaked because it got to the students.

• There was a big lapse in the supervision and control of the examination process and that was more obvious whenever the Director General informs the Personal Assistant of his intention to rest and at the time when the Director (Planning/Academic Matters) had gone out to sleep too, leaving the Personal Assistant with the two clerical staff alone in the office. This was viewed as a fundamental error.

• The use of personal phones was not restricted in that the staff involved with typing and collation still had possession as well as access to the use of their phones.

• Since the incident of August 11, 2010 neither the Director-General nor management has deemed it fit to set-up any committee to investigate the matter.

• There was no proper control and supervision of the people working with the DG between the time questions were typed and the time of the commencement of the examination.

AS part of its recommendation, the panel stated thus: "The committee found the Personal Assistant to the Director-General, Mr. Bello Bala, guilty of leaking the question paper of August 11, 2010 for the following reasons:

• He has the key to the Chairman's office and was seen using the desktop on the day the alleged malpractice was discovered.

• He brought a scanner to the Chairman's office, which was used to scan the same question paper on the desktop.

• He alone knew that there was Internet service on the LAN line in his office and in the Chairman's office.

• The instruction to disable the network service was given by the DG through him, but he did not comply, because he knew the DG was not aware of it.

• He was also frequently excusing himself from the room where the examination papers were being processed to go the toilet in the Chairman's office when there is a toilet for him to use in the DG's office and another one near his own office.

• He stays alone with two clerks that are printing and collating the question papers when the DG and the Director of Planning and Academic Matters are sleeping.

• The scanned question paper for that day was found on the desktop he was using before another staff, Mr. Suleiman Mamman, discovered the alleged malpractice.

The committee found the DG's Personal Assistant in breach of Public Service Rules PSR 131301 Section 3 and PSR 030314 Section 4, which deal with unauthorized removal of public records, dishonesty, and unauthorized disclosure of official information, divided loyalty and sabotage.

It, therefore "recommends that he (Bala) be dismissed from the services of the Council of Legal Education with immediate effect.

Although the Council was yet to act upon the report of the committee, The Guardian learnt that Mr. Bala has thrown in the towel on the premise that his grandmother had died and being her next-of-kin, he had been asked to come and take over the running of the family business.

Source: Law School Exam Leaked

[Chizoba Yomi]

That's the level of insecurity in the country.