The National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Edo State has expressed strong concern over the increasingly dangerous style of post-examination celebrations in tertiary institutions, following the death of a final-year student of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma.
The student reportedly lost his life in a motorcade accident on Monday, December 8, 2025, shortly after finishing his examinations. The crash occurred near Ujoelen Junction along the Ekpoma–Auchi Expressway.
Addressing journalists in Benin City on Wednesday, the Edo State Director of NOA, Barrister Osahon Woghiren, described the student’s death as a heartbreaking and entirely preventable tragedy. He said the incident should compel students, families, and school authorities to rethink the way academic milestones are celebrated.
The Agency lamented that what should have been a joyful moment marking the end of the young man’s academic journey instead became a devastating event that claimed his life.
Woghiren explained that the NOA has consistently warned against the hazardous “signing-out” culture—where graduating students take to the streets in noisy convoys, block roads, and engage in reckless displays under the guise of celebration.
He emphasized that celebrations can be done safely and meaningfully without endangering lives. “There are creative and responsible ways to mark the completion of one’s studies. What must stop is this glorification of excess and risk,” he said.
According to him, the fatal crash was not merely an accident but the outcome of a dangerous ritual that the Agency has condemned for years. He added that no celebration, no matter how exciting, should ever result in death or grief.
The NOA Director urged parents, student bodies, school managements, security agencies, and local communities to join forces in curbing the practice. He stressed that building safer habits among young people requires shared responsibility. Parents must speak up, institutions should enforce stricter guidelines, student unions must take leadership, and security officials must act whenever convoys disrupt public roads.
He called on all tertiary institutions in Edo State to adopt safer and more purposeful approaches to graduation and sign-out events. While celebrating academic achievement is encouraged, he said, doing so in reckless ways is unacceptable.
Woghiren concluded by extending condolences to the bereaved family and reaffirmed the Agency’s readiness to partner with schools to create awareness programs that promote safety and responsible behaviour among students.