Show me a tertiary institution in Nigeria where you embark on compulsory national service before graduation and completion of academic activities and I will tell you about a peculiar case in history where it was possible to serve in 1999 and come back to graduate in 2000/2001.
Show me a man who can gleefully mock his critics in the face of monumental perjury, fraud, and scandal before the determination of his case in the court of public opinion and I will tell you about a man who can dance ‘skelewu’ while in the eyes of the storm.
Show me a tertiary institution in Nigeria where the educational validation and verification system is water tight and fool proof and I will tell you about an institution where the vice chancellor is ready to visit your country home to verify and validate your educational claims based on ‘available records’ before your village high chiefs.
Show me a country where you can either change names or juxtapose them at will without recourse to due process until you are challenged or under the spotlight and I will tell you about a country where you can either change names or juxtapose them to evade scrutiny and get back dated legal documents to validate the process.
Show me a global institution where you are schooled in the Social Sciences but end up being accredited with the Humanities and I will show you a case where you can study geography (Bsc) and graduate in the Humanities or Arts (BA).
Show me ‘honourable’ and ‘distinguished’ senators of the federal republic of Nigeria who cannot afford to live within their means and I will tell you about all the ‘honourable’ and ‘distinguished’ senators who live above their means.
You show me a credible man embroiled in authentication issues relating to his background and I will show you a strong man involved in educational validation issues from his past with no friends or course mate ready to stand up and speak for him.
Show me a country where a serving senator would lie about his educational achievements and get away without any sanctions and I will tell you about a senator who claimed to have graduated from Harvard and the London School of Economics whose claims were debunked by the institutions in question yet remains a ‘honourable’ and ‘distinguished’ member of the Nigerian parliament.
Show me a serious graduate of any tertiary institution who has ‘8 degrees’ yet fails to acquire his first degree certificate from his alma mater but would rather parade his statement of result and I will show you a ‘learned man’ who can’t provide his original certificate after 16 years of graduation yet parades himself as a ‘honourable’ member of the Nigerian parliament.
Show me a proud graduate of any institution who never got involved in his graduation ceremony nor did the school recognise their tenure and I will show you a classic instance where a proud graduate is not acknowledged in the year book or graduation brochure of the institution without a reason.
Show me a country in the world where perjury and fraud are being discussed or investigated in the hallowed chambers of the country’s parliament and I will tell you about a country with an anti-corruption drive where frauds are being investigated and judged in place of the law enforcement arms of the country.
Show me an institution where the senate, faculty or department grants waiver to students in other to enable them pass out or graduate as a result of their poor academic grades and I would show you an institution where the head of a department can grant waiver to students who cannot fulfil some core course requirements for their department or faculty.
Show me a man whose knowledge and education in Geography is flawed yet insists on studying the subject against good judgement and I would show you a man who failed Geography in high school yet was admitted into tertiary institution with poor grades to study Geography and ‘graduated’ with ‘honours’.
Show me a Nigerian senator who has had the toughest task of proving his legitimacy as a graduate and I would show you one who has had to wear his graduation gown to a plenary session to prove he actually graduated from a tertiary institution.
PHILIP BRAIDE wrote in from Norwich, UK.
