
Originally Posted by
sharpness counts
The remark made by the nnpc boss on the results of the recently conducted
recruitment exams by his organization have continued to generate reactions among
different classes of Nigerians, while some choose to fault the educational system I
choose to look at the issue more critically. I know the exams were conducted in very
poor conditions starting from the hectic accreditation exercise that left all the
graduates under the hot sun from morning hours till about 5pm in the evening allowing
them to scramble for shelter in the shade, go through fierce struggle to get accredited
while under harassment for the men of the police force attached to the centers in the
name of coordinating the graduates leaving most of them exhausted and hungry, while
some scrambled for food which were sold at more than double the prices others who
couldn’t afford to eat settled for drinks which were also sold at inflated prices. Then
the Philips Consulting commenced distribution of examination materials which took them
till about 5.45pm following which the exams were allowed to commence. Now it was
called a test of knowledge but I think the nnpc had missed it there, first of all the
NNPC should have known that they would not get the best out of exhausted
graduates, they should have learnt from their other counter parts in the oil sector.
SPDC, Chevron etc cannot put up such conditions prior to an aptitude test because
they want the best results, secondly the test comprised of mathematics, English,
biology, physics and chemistry (for the science majors) with about 50 objective
questions to be answered in each subject with a time frame of 30 to 45 mins per
subject, then the question arouse does the NNPC really know what an aptitude test of
knowledge means? Where in the world does one write undergraduate/graduate
examination under the same condition as aptitude test?
It would have been ok if light had been provided for these 2.1 and first class
graduates, whom the NNPC boss was quick to water down based on their performance
in their rather poorly conducted exam, to see the questions they were requested to
answer but surprisingly as it got dark there was no provision for lighting in many
centers across the country, then another phase of scrambling started with these
graduated running to get candles to light up their scripts to answer these questions
while others settled for their nokia torchlight phones to illuminate their scripts, then
the exams ended in the dark of the night with Philips Consulting collecting scripts in
the dark. So I thought how can the NNPC complain on the outcome of such a poorly
conducted exam, should they hide that a company like nnpc should put up such a
shabby recruitment exam which was written in the dark of the night across many
centers in the country with poor infrastructure and organization in most centers, I
know that WACE whose questioner they extracted does not even combine four to five
subjects in one day and still provides for them to be written in the light of day. Then I
went further to look at the case of a young man who had his Msc in the UK and
graduated as the best student and still did not make it, but does it mean that he is
not good based on the NNPC standards, then another that had been bagging awards
right from secondary school till he graduated as the best in his department form the
University and still did not make it, is the NNPC trying to say by their own standard
they are not good? I think this is why the NNPC has been performing under expectation
because of poor conduct. It is not proper to say that a 1st class or 2:1 graduate is
half baked on the ground that it did not perform well in an examination that is different
in conduct to the examination that make such 1st class or 2:1 graduate.
For the record I think the NNPC has not been fair to these Graduates and has sent a
wrong signal to Nigerians and the world at large.
THIS ARTICLE IS TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE NIGERIAN DAILIES, PLEASE ANY REMARKS OR MODIFICATIONS ARE WELCOME FROM PATRIOTIC NIGERIANS
WITH BEST REGARDS