Another cabinet embarrassment

The struggle for public office in Nigeria has assumed such a frightening proportion that all means, fair and foul, are the order of the day to obtain the ‘indispensable edge’ over the other fellow.  It was probably part of the reasons that there exist rigorous procedures for the nomination and approval of persons aspiring to […]

The struggle for public office in Nigeria has assumed such a frightening proportion that all means, fair and foul, are the order of the day to obtain the ‘indispensable edge’ over the other fellow.  It was probably part of the reasons that there exist rigorous procedures for the nomination and approval of persons aspiring to public office. But as has been proven time and again, the procedures are either observed in the breach or applied only when an aspirant is deemed not serving certain interests.
The news that another of President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet members, the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, has problems with her claimed academic credentials is therefore not unsual, but nonetheless disheartening. Reports say that St Paul’s College, Lawrenceville Virginia in the US has said although Ms Oduah was an alumnus, and obtained a first degree in Accountancy there, the school has not awarded a Masters in its 125-year history.   Another claim that Ms Oduah has an honorary doctorate degree from a Pacific Christian University has been called into question because the US Department of Education found no reference to such institution in California. Honorary doctorate degrees are relatively easy to obtain nowadays, even over the Internet, that it is baffling anyone would want a fake one!
Those who aspire, or are appointed to, public office in the land should stand the most rigorous moral scrutiny. It is evident that even the most cursory examination of credentials is not being carried out by the government agencies that should. The minimum requirement before confirming any public appointee should be to at least confirm that the institution they claim to have attended exists and had undergone programmes there.   
While the public sector can hardly be excused for such lapses, it is odious the universities, where academic credentials are the “raison d’être”, should be enmeshed in them. The laxity in activating the process of confirming qualifications that office seekers claim got so bad that fake “professors” have been discovered in the university system. There are fake doctors who have been unmasked after several years of ‘practice’, fake lawyers who have appeared before judges before being called out for what they are, fake journalists who fleece members of the public and politicians, and many other spurious claimants that affect all aspects of private and public lives.
 There are several reasons why certificate forgeries are so rampant and easy to escape detection for long in Nigeria than elsewhere. The total collapse of the post office system makes the writing and receiving of written communication for verification an expensive and time-consuming process. Secondly, most of the universities have tardy, mostly laborious, record-keeping system for their alumni.  Thirdly, Nigeria has become a society obsessed with paper qualifications over experience and aptitude. The requirement that applicants or potential public office appointees attach photocopies of credentials rather than current confirmation letters from the Institution provides a pathway to procure such documents from dubious sources.  
The government and other employers should dispense with such requirement, and adopt what is prevalent in many countries, where applicants fill out a form stating the schools attended and qualifications obtained, which should then be verified before the applicant is engaged.  The National Universities Commission should build and maintain a database of all Nigerian graduates and provide a clearinghouse for such inquiries. The essence of verifying the credentials of public officers by government agencies such as the secret services is to ensure that those who act in the name of the Federal Republic are individuals of impeccable character and moral rectitude. The frequent discovery of forged documents among public officers indicates that such agencies are either not doing their job, or have been compromised to overlook what they know. That’s a disservice to the nation.