The Distinguished Senator Dino Melaye has generated a lot of comments on social media these past days. These comments cuts across Nigerians of different divide and there is no denying the fact that even if the entire academic records of Senator Dino Melaye are published today in all the National dailies; some opinion about him will still not change. So while we were busy investigating, looking and checking out if Senator Dino Melaye actually graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; we did not ask the right questions and so did not get the right answers. Some Nigerians even made jokes out of the entire situation. We shared, posted, commented and even made videos. You can’t blame us on that. It’s a juicy story and someone has got to talk about it. The Senator also used the opportunity to launch his music career. But those jokes will later be on all of us.


This “you did not graduate from ABU” matter reminds me of an old grandfather’s tale of the Rabbit burrow. A good Rabbit hunter knows that if you are trying to smoke a Rabbit out of its burrow, you had better be sure that you have all the entrances and exits covered. Otherwise, if you attempt to dig only from one entrance or exit; you just might find yourself in the Rabbit Hole just like ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Except their approach was based on the Theory of Obliquity, I am of the opinion that Sahara Reporters was too hasty in releasing the report that Senator Dino Melaye did not graduate from ABU, Zaria as at the time he was said to have graduated. If Sahara’s evidence on their claim was only based on the Senator’s academic records in their possession; then more rigour should have gone into the investigation before it went out. Sensationalism and hype can sell but truth be told; it pays more to be factually detailed too.


I don’t know Senator Dino Melaye other than what I have gleaned from both the Print and Electronic media and from the internet. I believe Senator Dino Melaye does not know me and he has never heard my name. What right then do I have to comment on this issue? My rights to comment on the Senator’s current issue are derived from the fact that I am a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Distinguished Senator is a serving Senator of the Federal Republic; added that I also graduated the same time that he graduated though from a different University and I did my National Youth Service the same period he served too - 9th July, 2000 to 8th July, 2001. If the Certificate of one of Nigeria’s Senators is in doubt and it becomes a topic of discourse, it becomes a concern for a Nigerian Citizen. Meanwhile, I do not hold brief for the Senator; he is smart enough to fight his battles.


When the authenticity of Senator Dino Melaye’s Bachelor’s degree suddenly became interesting in March 2017 it should have generated one question. Does it mean that Degrees and other academic claims are not verified by our Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before granting approvals for candidates to contest elections? A simple letter from INEC to ABU, Zaria or any other School that the Senator stated in his form would have answered the question – Did Mr. Dino Melaye graduate from ------------? We would have been saved the tension that characterized the blogosphere and the drama of having a Vice- Chancellor of a University come to the hallowed chambers to defend a Bachelor’s degree. It could have saved Sahara Reporters some energy to chase other things. It could have also saved the Senator the stress of having to wear an academic gown to plenary. Considering that academic gowns have a rope like hood. It was a risky venture and unsafe if debates had gone the other way that very day.


How did we allow ineffectiveness and inefficiency to creep into our national psyche and reside there permanently? Why are we so untidy in little things that should matter?
This is why files get missing in the Ministries and Agencies of Government such that after filling out a form with all attachments, you are called that some documents you attached are missing. This is why it takes so long to process a Nigeria Drivers Licence. This is why Telecommunication companies take your biometrics yet the Nigerian Police cannot use it for investigations. This is why we don’t have a National ID Card. This is why fraudulent people advertise sales of seized vehicles by Customs in our national dailies online with matching mobile numbers and yet no one person has been arrested for fraud. This is why it can take you so long to process a Nigerian Passport if you decide to pay the normal fees. This is why State Governors are collecting bail outs and they are not paying Workers’ salaries and no one is asking them why? This is why we needed phone calls to prove that our own elected President was alive even when his VP had told us so. This is why Boko Haram is still throwing bombs. This is why peace has not returned to the Nigerdelta. This is why two agencies of government can openly oppose each other and we go clapping at their rivalry. This is why there will be no health for all by the year 2020 neither will there be housing. This is why ASUU will always still go on strike and government will still not honour the agreement. This is why we will still be divided along religious and ethnic lines. This is why everything is so bad and armed robbery and kidnapping have become songs on repeat. This is why road construction waits till the rainy season to commence. This is why Nigerians have suddenly discovered the Third Mainland Bridge as the easy way out. All these and more because one of us is not doing his or her job effectively and efficiently. It could be you; it could be me.


Has anyone looked at the functions of the Senate as stated in a typical Nigerian University Act? Though, I am not a Lawyer but I am just curious if my common sense of law is not showing that whether you are admitted with three credit passes instead of five, and you are graduated even after failing all core courses. The Senate of a Nigerian University really has both the knife and the yam. Take a look at Section 7 Functions of the Senate; subsection 2(b) “the organization and control of courses of study at the University and of the examinations held in conjunction with those courses, including the appointment of examiners, both internal and external;” subsection 2(c) “the award of degrees, and such other qualifications as may be prescribed, in connection with examinations held as aforesaid;” Now move to subsection 4 “Subject to this Act and the statutes, the Senate may make regulations for the purpose of exercising any function conferred on it either by the foregoing provisions of this section or otherwise or for the purpose of making provision for any matter for which provision by regulations is authorized or required by this Act or by statute”

Whichever way your opinion on this matter will tilt, I think that life has become so hard in Nigeria that we stopped asking the right questions; stopped evaluating; and left critical thinking to the internet and online discussions to dictate the pace of Nigeria’s development. This is bad and it will only leave us in the Rabbit Hole.

Seun
Lalasticlala

Good one bro, we are always discussing irrelevant issues why the relevant ones are neglected

Education in the long run doesn't make you who you are but it only propels you

Alert:
Education in the long run doesn't make you who you are but it only propels you

True

Good observations. It will take years of good leadership to correct many things in Nigeria. No institution in Nigeria is perform in its best capacity.

muyibaba222:
Good observations. It will take years of good leadership to correct many things in Nigeria. No institution in Nigeria is perform in its best capacity.

thanks

nicerichard05:


i wish this will hit fp for everybody to see. it is time we start discussing serious issues.

How do you expect it to hit FP when all that took most of my lifetime to hustle, is called an ancient piece of paper ..

Imagine, INEC doesn't even verify the credentials sent to them .. If Dino is working with a Bank, they would've responded since without inviting the VC cos they must have verified before.

Better create a post about Thin tall Tony of Big Brother or Tonto Dike to make FP.

dunkem21:


How do you expect it to hit FP when all that took most of my lifetime to hustle, is called an ancient piece of paper ..

Imagine, INEC doesn't even verify the credentials sent to them .. If Dino is working with a Bank, they would've responded since without inviting the VC cos they must have verified before.

Better create a post about Thin tall Tony of Big Brother or Tonto Dike to make FP.

Its painful.

nicerichard05:



Its painful.

You must have noticed that our comments have been deleted

You forgot to add "that is why useless and IQ-diminishing threads frequently make FP with reckless abandon"

dunkem21:


You must have noticed that our comments have been deleted

wow. so an MOD has seen this and has refused to push it to fp buh rather delete comment. smh

nicerichard05:


wow. so an MOD has seen this and has refused to push it to fp buh rather delete comment. smh

So better face front before you are BANNED!

That's how one idiot will come and quote this whole right up I swear Seun need to give us e-slap button ....


You raised a lot of salient points Op and until we answer such questions truthfully, we can never move ahead.... kudos

7footre:
That's how one idiot will come and quote this whole right up I swear Seun need to give us e-slap button ....


You raised a lot of salient points Op and until we answer such questions truthfully, we can never move ahead.... kudos

thank bro

I wish I can see you personally to give you a crate of anything you drink. This is what I have been arguing with someone else on a different thread. Sahara Reporters were too quick to publish unverified facts in order to satisfy their benefactors and ended up making a mess of themselves.
The most annoying fact is that in a couple of days this too will be swept under the carpet and we will move on to a new drama as if it never happened.
You just summed up Nigeria and the problems we keep on having. No accountability. People are killed everyday and it looks like life no longer matters to Nigerians. When we see such topics you will only hear "na wah ooo" "policemen are animals" military men are wicked" fulani herdsmen are heartless" and that is the end of the story. It is only the military that tries to clear the air in matters that concern them (even if they are not doing it with precision)
If I remember that after the Agatu killing no substantial arrest have been made, I ask myself how did I become a Nigerian? That issue has been totally forgotten.
No one is accountable to anyone and yet we expect to move forward. The president allocates billions to the state house medical center and goes abroad for treatment. The national assembly allocates allowances to themselves and inflate the budget and even come out to defend such a criminal act saying boldly that it will not stop. Policemen boldly collect bribes on our highway like its their right and kill some motorists who would not give them the bribes knowing fully well that nothing will happen.
The problem of Nigeria will only get worse because the youths have no good person to emulate and we cannot give what we don't have. If we continue like this as a nation, then there is no end in sight to our problem.
This is just the Genesis.