The Department of English at the Benue State University has been forced to cancel a final year exam for the 2020/2021 session after a picture of the examination paper posted online generated a public backlash.

The exam which was meant to last for 3 hours had five questions in total, and students were expected to answer three questions out of the five. Students were asked to define a register and its importance and other questions that internet users insisted were too basic for even a first-year student.

One critic, Moses Ochonu, a Professor of African Studies at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States, noted that the cheap questions were the reasons first-class graduands are now very common in Nigeria as against when schools tested students with standard questions.

He further took a swipe at the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) whose member is likely the examiner behind the poor questions and their resolve to stay on the fence in scandalous times.

Also reacting to the backlash, the Head of the Department of English, issued a memo saying the perpetrator of the shameful act will be appropriately sanctioned.