“In 2007, former president Obasanjo vowed that Atiku could not contest the election. Then, Atiku teamed up with Tinubu and was given the Action Congress – AC presidential ticket.” —Ebuka Onyekwelu
For days, debates about President Bola Tinubu’s certificate from Chicago State University-CSU have dominated private and public conversations across Nigeria and beyond. But this is only happening because many people are not asking the right questions. First of all, the allegations erupted from social media that a certain Bola Tinubu, a female who attended CSU is the person President Bola Tinubu is impersonating. In fact, this grand allegation went back to when it was claimed that President Bola Tinubu had traveled to the US with a female passport, and was later admitted as a female at CSU. But Bola Tinubu is not a spirit and did not suddenly appear from nowhere. So, at what point did those who believe this narrative take in the story?
Between 1999 and 2007, Bola Tinubu was the face of opposition politics in Nigeria. At the time, President Olusegun Obasanjo from the same geopolitical zone of Southwest as Tinubu, was president of Nigeria. Throughout their eight years in office, to say that the battle line between Tinubu and Obasanjo was ever clear is, to put it mildly. Tinubu the then Lagos state governor and Obasanjo the then president, were always at a crossroads which snowballed from a battle of wits to open political warfare. For Obasanjo, Lagos was far too consequential to be left in the hands of the opposition. Even more, it was a big dent in his political sagacity that he would be battling with Tinubu for some relevance in the president’s own zone. Yet, Tinubu survived and remained significant in national politics. To appreciate why Tinubu’s survival matters, in those days, it was easy for enforcement agencies of government like EFCC, ICPC, and others, to be unleashed on the president’s opponents. With the level of discomfort Tinubu constituted to Obasanjo, it was practically impossible for Tinubu to remain relevant if there were things the president could hold on to put him in his ‘place’.
Most former governors at the time were not as lucky. Former governors including the very powerful Sir. Peter Odili of Rivers, Chief Olusegun Osaba of Ogun state, James Ibori of Delta, Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia, and many others who at some point the former president doubted their loyalty to him, paid heavily. The former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is also on this list. In 2007, former president Obasanjo vowed that Atiku could not contest the election. Then, Atiku teamed up with Tinubu and was given the Action Congress – AC presidential ticket. After many efforts to prevent Atiku from being on the ballot, finally, the court ruled that AC and its presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, should take part in the election. In all of these, it was only Bola Tinubu who suffered no personal inhibition or permanent political loss because of his confrontations with the former president. Among many other reasons why it is so, is the fact that apparently, the former president could not see any clear and firm basis upon which to rely and hang Tinubu. Yet, Tinubu had always presented his CSU certificate as his educational qualification. Bearing in mind that there is no length a political adversary may not go to cage his troublesome opponent, it is generally doubtful that the former president has not explored all possible bases for achieving this including vetting Tinubu’s certificates, among others.
Eight years as governor of Lagos State was enough time for an ambitious governor who has a certificate challenge to straighten his academic shortfall. In this instance, Bola Tinubu could have gone to Lagos State University at least and legitimately procured even a doctorate degree. But, he did not do that. Yet, this is the very least anyone who has a certificate challenge at that level would do.
The other part of this is whether it is possible for the Nigerian political elite of Tinubu’s standing, to parade fake US university certificates, something he could have done in Asia or in Arab world or other African countries. US universities are the most unlikely place to go and procure fake certificates for anyone who is in public life because they will be easily exposed.
In essence, before Atiku instituted the case, trying to get the CSU to release Tinubu’s certificate, he would have first done his due diligence. He was Obasanjo’s vice and had worked closely with Tinubu in the past which placed him in a prime position to carefully look at the allegations from a place of both hindsight and insight.
So now that CSU has deposed that Bola Tinubu and indeed, the current president of Nigeria applied to their school as a male, was admitted, schooled, and graduated as a male, what else would the allegations or insinuations of “forged certificate” stand on? Okay, the school also deposed that the certificate submitted by Bola Tinubu to INEC didn’t come from the university, but did not say where it came from or if it was an unauthorized certificate. This leaves one to wonder if a student who was admitted, schooled, and graduated from a university can forge his own certificate. Since this is an unlikely occurrence, could it now be that the certificate was issued by some other authorized body on behalf of the CSU?
In the end, it is obvious that many Nigerians waste so much time on irrelevant things that are of absolute inconsequential. It is unbelievably shocking that people can antagonize someone’s parental origins and discredit his history, doubt his certificate and identity, all based on fictitious allegations on social media. Yet, the same man has been an active player in Nigeria’s public space for decades and has served as a former senator and two-term governor of Lagos and the face of Nigeria’s opposition politics. It is difficult to imagine that some Nigerians have such luxury of time to waste on nothingness.
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
