Andy Ezeani
Suddenly, well, not so suddenly, problems with academic certificates have become another defining ethical challenge for Nigeria.
Fake certificate here. Non-existent certificate there. Missing certificate over here. Unissued certificate over there…. Certificate this, certificate that…. This has become common problems in prime public stations in Nigeria. The world is taking notice.
The root of the problem can be located in the nature of untreated or badly treated diseases. Such problems just don’t go away. Sooner than later, any disease not properly treated rebounds. Whether it mutates or reappears as it was, there is a problem. Nigeria has become a case study. It may be time for the ruling All Progressives Congress to talk to the country about its guiding value system.
Against the backdrop of Nigeria’s recent realities, the ongoing hoopla over the academic credentials of Mr, Uche Nnaji, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, may end up as what it is – just noise.
In truth, there is nothing unique in the matter, not in our present circumstances. Mr. Nnaji is very much at home, both in his party, the ruling APC, and indeed, in the Nigerian society ascof today.
The conflicting contention over Nnaji’s existing or non-existing University of Nigeria (UNN) degree certificate is following the pattern of such noise in the public space. The denouement is not expected to deviate from the template on the dissolution of such matter.
The tragedy that the words of the very institution that awarded, or did not award a student his diploma, can not even be trusted, is in itself, a statement. It reflects the ethical nadir where Nigeria exists. This, however, is not even the issue.
If it is proved, eventually, that Mr, Nnaji was not issued a degree by the UNN, so what? He is just a minister.Don’t be offended.We shall soon explain.
Nigeria has become a bad joke. The vice chancellor of UNN, whose word ought to be weighty and not the first on such an issue, has instantly been identified as a political hatchet man on a mission commissioned by Nnaji’s political enemies. So what? That does not settle the issue of whether the minister was issued a degree certificate by UNN or not.
Meanwhile, Nnaji’s classmates at UNN have publicly weighed in, vowing that he graduated with them. The words of the university authority ought to be final in such matter, but not when the vice chancellor has been accused of leading what appears like a campaign of calumny. As earlier noted, that is neither here nor there. Now, the real issue.
Nnaji was appointed minister by President Bola Tinubu. Let’s leave it at that for now.
Before Tinubu, there was President Muhammadu Buhari. The law requires that a candidate running for political office, including that of president, should tender his basic academic credentials to the election management body. So,candidate Buhari, submit your school certificate for vetting. He said it was with the Army Records. Did they take both the original and the duplicate copies? Okay, put a call across to the said Army Records so as to retrieve the certificate to be sighted. No show.
The next thing Nigerians saw was a clump of antediluvian men, putting themselves forward as class mates of Buhari and streaming in to the State House on some solidarity visit to their old buddy.
Why was that necessary when all that was required was a copy of a man’s school certificate? When did man and paper become interchangeable as documentary evidence? Nigeria overlooked that. The election management body was browbeaten to compromise. Buhari moved on, ran for president, won, and served for two terms, with a school certificate that purportedly remained in the vaults of the Army records.
Then came Bola Tinubu. The story is simply too long and complicated for here. Once again, it was all about the authenticity of a certificate. Whether a diploma was issued in the first place, wrongly issued or rightly issued, only God knows. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) jumped and passed. The Supreme Court concurred. Nigeria moved on.
When the issue of Nnaji’s questionable certificate came up, he attempted to get a court in Abuja to stop the UNN from releasing his transcript and academic records. That appeared like deja vu. Somehow, however, the court did not totally grant him his plea. He must have come to terms with the reality that what worked for A may not work for B.
Mr. Nnaji’s certificate issue is said to be triggered off by a dog-eat-dog politics in his home state of Enugu. It is all about struggle for control of the levers of power in the state.
Interestingly, Governor Peter Mbah, who is being identified as the conductor of the Nnaji certificate orchestra, is not coming to equity with a clean hand. He bore his own certificate cross some months ago before he eventually prevailed in the court.
While the NYSC insisted openly and at the court that it did not issue Mbah the NYSC certificate he tendered, the Supreme Court literally told NYSC that it was talking nonsense.
Mbah proceeded into the Government House in Enugu. Enugu State moved on. Nigeria moved on.
Double standard and hypocrisy are not entirely strange tendencies in Nigeria. It is possible that Nnaji, whose portfolio is Innovation, Science and Technology may realize in his present situation that there is a limit to innovation. He may be required to meet an ethical standard different from that of others within the APC.
Make no mistakes about the trial of Nnaji for his diploma from UNN; he remains “Honourable”, even if at the end of the day, it is proved beyond the antics of the vice chancellor, that UNN did not confer him with a degree. In Nigeria, being an Honourable or His Excellency has no attendant ‘noblesse oblige’ to it. Moral uprightness or possession of outstanding personal attributes are not required of anyone to be knighted His Excellency or Honourable in Nigeria.
The question arises, though; why do politicians parade academic credentials that have a question mark when they could well pass with the basics? Is it hubris or a proclivity to abuse a system they are accustomed to traducing at will?
May be, the Nigerian legislature should drop all pretenses and go forward to amend the constitution to remove requirement for academic qualifications as requirement for political offices. That includes even the school certificate, considering that even that, as the Buhari case showed, can still be an issue.
For now, let nobody trouble Uche Nnaji. He has not done anything that those above him have not done. His political adversaries back in Enugu state should find something else to nail him. Certificate forgery is presently not a crime in Nigeria.
