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“The world is made of two classes – the hunter and the hunted.”
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Richard Connell
In the concluding paragraphs of my write-up in the last week edition of the Monday Morning Reflections, I challenged Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on his academic records.
I asked him to come out in the open with his records for public scrutiny. I also remarked that he who goes into equity must come with clean hands. Less than twenty-four hours to that time, the bubble burst! The news spread like wildfires on the Social Media that Atiku Abubakar submitted a fake West African School Certificate results to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as part of his academic qualifications to run for the 2023 presidential election.
The initial reaction of the people to the news was in utter disbelief. To them, it was just incredulous and too real to believe! This was so because it is coming from the background of a man who recently priced himself as the moral conscience of the nation, questioning the veracity of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s CSU certificate.
He mobilized the headless mobs in the Social Media, battering the image of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They indeed had a field day disparaging, scandalizing and insulting PBAT. All of these shenanigans were taken to an extent of ridicule.
He went as far as using the instrumentality of the law in the United States to drive home his points, digging deep into PBAT’S academic records. Having achieved his aim by securing the truth about PBAT’s academic exploit in CSU, it has now become a dramatic turn of events for him to prove his innocence on the counter allegation of certificate fraud being leveled against him. He has the onerous task to convince Nigerians, and indeed the whole world that his own certificates are flawless. What a twist of fate for Atiku! Actually, they say, what goes around, comes around.
The allegation against him bothers on the strange name on his WAEC Ordinary Level Certificate which bears Siddiq Abubakar. This is contrary to the first name (Atiku) that he has been known for since birth. When the question was put to him, he claimed that he sat for the exam as Siddiq Abubakar and thereafter changed the name to Atiku Abubakar having sworn to an affidavit. The question is, what informed the sudden change of name?
This revelation has indeed opened a can of worms regarding the academic records of Atiku Abubakar. It was stated that he obtained a Diploma in Public Hygiene at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU), 1967; another Diploma in Law, ABU, 1969 and Master of Arts, International Relations, Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom. The pertinent question being posed again is, how did Atiku Abubakar procure a Master’s degree without having the first degree which is the prequisite qualification?
The discrepancies in Atiku Abubakar’s certificates are so phenomenal. The manners in which he was transiting from one school to the other without having prerequisite entry requirements are suspicious and questionable. They depict a character at ease with cutting corners.
The onus now rests on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to set the records straight. It is not enough to swear to an affidavit to authenticate a document as being yours. He, Atiku Abubakar has the obligation, and indeed, the moral burden to give the reasons that necessitated the sudden change of name. No one would believe that he changed his name for no reason at all. There must be more to it than meets the eyes.
He should also endeavor to fill the missing link between his Diploma Certificates and the Masters degree he acquired. The lawyers will say that you can’t build something on nothing. In this instance, an ordinary University Diploma is not and cannot be an equivalent of a Postgraduate Diploma. It does not carry the weight of a first degree and therefore, cannot be used to secure admission for a Masters degree program. Far from it.
It is often said that he who lives in the glass house does not throw stone. Much as it is premature to jump into conclusion on this issue of certificate racketeering being leveled against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar at this moment, the appropriate authorities should be caused to swing into action immediately to carry out diligent investigations into all matters pertaining to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s academic records. Even if not for anything, Nigerians deserve to know the truth about their leaders, particularly, the loquacious ones.
J.A McLachlan in his book writes: “the line between the hunter and the hunted can be as small as a single moment of unreadiness…” That moment is here. “Eebu alo ni ti ahun, abo ni ti ana e”, meaning that the initial shame is for the tortoise; the subsequent ones are for its in-law who exposed it to shame in the first place.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has stirred up the hornet’s nest and must be prepared to face the consequence. Now, the heat is right on him, so intense and ravageous. He has a duty more than ever before to straighten his crooked academic journey in life by fire, by force.
Borrowing from that popular street slang, “E go explain tire”
B. Aderemi Ogundele (Jagunmolu)
