Nigeria’s standing in Africa’s educational assessment community received a significant boost this week after Professor Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, Registrar and Chief Executive of the National Examinations Council (NECO), was elected Vice-President of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA).
In a related development, Nigeria also secured the right to host the association’s 2027 conference in Abuja.
The twin honours were confirmed in a statement issued by NECO’s acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Azeez Sani, following decisions taken by the AEAA General Assembly at the close of the association’s 42nd Conference in Arusha, Tanzania.
According to the statement, the developments underline Nigeria’s growing weight in continental assessment circles at a moment when examination bodies across Africa are grappling with digital transformation and the rising role of artificial intelligence in testing and certification.
Wushishi’s elevation to the vice-presidency did not come out of nowhere. He had previously earned a seat on the AEAA’s Executive Council as the West African sub-region’s representative, elected at the association’s 40th Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa, in August 2024, where he joined an eight-member council drawn from examination bodies across the continent. That earlier posting effectively laid the groundwork for his current promotion within the organization.
Nigeria’s hosting rights for the 2027 conference, scheduled to run from 16 to 20 August in Abuja, are expected to draw policymakers, researchers, examination administrators, and education experts from across Africa, offering the country a high-profile stage to showcase the reforms NECO has pursued in recent years.
Those reforms have been a defining feature of Wushishi’s tenure since he first took over as NECO Registrar in 2021, an appointment made by then-President Muhammadu Buhari.
Under his watch, the council has pushed to modernize examination administration and expand its technological infrastructure, efforts that have also extended NECO’s reach beyond Nigeria’s borders; its examinations are now conducted in eight foreign countries.
Earlier this year, President Bola Tinubu reappointed Wushishi to a second term as Registrar, a decision widely read as an endorsement of the technological and administrative changes he has driven at the council.
The reappointment came alongside the naming of Modupe Adelabu, a retired professor of educational administration at Obafemi Awolowo University, as Chairman of NECO’s Governing Board.
Born on 5 April 1965 in Wushishi, Niger State, the NECO helmsman is a scholar of science education with a specialization in chemistry education.
Before rising to lead NECO, he built a long academic career, holding leadership roles including Head of Department, Postgraduate Coordinator, and Sub-Dean at both Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and the Federal University of Technology, Minna.
His CV also includes stints as Head of Department of Science Education at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, alongside a substantial body of scholarly publications reflecting decades in the education sector.
The AEAA itself, whose full membership Wushishi will now help steer as vice-president, was established in 1982 to foster cooperation among examining and assessment bodies across the continent, with harmonization of educational assessment standards in Africa as its central mandate.
For NECO, the developments in Arusha mark a moment of consolidation rather than a sudden breakthrough, the product of a steady climb through the association’s ranks over the past two years, paired with a domestic reform agenda that appears to have found favour both at home and abroad.
Whether Abuja’s turn as conference host in 2027 translates into lasting continental influence for Nigeria’s examination sector, however, is a story still being written, one that will likely hinge on how NECO’s digital and AI-driven reforms hold up to scrutiny from its African peers over the next year.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Prof. Dantani Wushishi’s election as AEAA Vice-President, coming on the heels of Nigeria winning host rights for the 2027 AEAA Conference in Abuja, signals that Nigeria, through NECO, is now positioned as a leading voice in shaping educational assessment policy across Africa, particularly as the continent navigates digital transformation and AI integration in testing and certification.
