The nation had been served with bowls of falsehood about the Army withholding his certificate as if he was the only person who ever served in that part of the armed forces. When that would not silence the critics, a report was issued by the school. Finally, we landed in the hands of WAEC whose self-deceptive officials, went to Aso Rock to raise the needless scam to a higher level. To be quite candid, it was as disgraceful as it was unintelligent. Here is why.
A friend of mine (names withheld) had lost all the original copies of his certificates in a fire accident. He sat for the WAEC examinations in 1963. Seeking a teaching appointment abroad, he had proceeded to obtain replacements of his certificates. He started with his secondary school and went on to his two universities. In less than three months, he had received true certified copies of all his credentials. A second case was that of a young lady, 26, who lost her own to flood in the Niger Delta. She also got a new one within three months. One of the things most disgraceful about the controversy surrounding Buhari’s “certificate” can be posed as a question. Are we supposed to believe that someone occupying the most important office in Nigeria did not know he could apply for a replacement after all these years and save us this waste of time? Is this intelligent?
That said; let me confess that the most depressing aspect of this national disagreement is one that has not been touched at all. Even if the results released are accepted as authentic, should we not be asking ourselves if in the twenty-first century, the leader we should have is one with such low qualifications and with nothing significant added since 1961? The modern world runs on knowledge and that comes from sound education and continuous self-improvement. It is difficult to imagine on what foundation someone who had such poor secondary school results can build – especially when you add the age factor.
That explains why the President repeats himself and sticks to one topic – blaming his predecessors. He does not bring to the discussion any new and stimulating ideas for progress. He does not even understand the direction of the national progress.
Clearly, the problem is not Buhari. We, as a people, have settled for mediocrity and we expect excellence in governance. Let me ask a question which each of us should answer honestly. Other than his promises to end corruption and provide better security, what else does Buhari stand for that will command our vote? He has no clue regarding what to do about the economy, education, health, power, infrastructure, environment and population explosion. We were all witnesses to the announcement about Education Emergency to be declared about two years ago. Till today, there has been no follow up. Buhari probably does not understand the correlation between high population growth and increasing poverty. So, he will do nothing about birth control – thereby ensuring that Nigerians will get even poorer as time goes on.
We are mortgaging our future and those of our children with our refusal to understand that we cannot expect to build a better tomorrow with a leader stuck in the middle of the last century. Of what use is a certificate which has only confirmed that competence is lacking; that from early life the individual has not demonstrated the high level of intelligence necessary to lead a nation aspiring to greatness?
My advice is that we should close the subject. We have seen enough and it shows conclusively that we need another leader.
LAST LINE. Professor Pat Utomi, who spent decades advising us to seek well-educated and innovative leaders, joined the APC to run for governor of Delta State. He lost; and in his self-pitying article a few weeks ago blamed God for not answering his prayer. Pat should thank God instead. It would have been quite a spectacle to see him promoting someone with Buhari’s results for President of Nigeria. It would have amounted to a self-indictment.
I certainly would have thought twice if the results were known in 2011 and 2015.
END
Be the first to comment