Popular columnist Farooq Kperogi has explained why the Chicago State University (CSU) won’t release the academic credentials of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to third parties

He was reacting to requests by critics and political opponents, including an army of social media users, for the university to release the academic records of the President.

Tinubu bagged a BSC with honours from the institution in 1979 with a major on accounting, a fact Kperogi, a known fierce critic of the President attested to.

In his latest column titled “Tinubu definitely graduated from Chicago State University,” the US-based Professor wrote: “In June 2022, when fresh, widely shared, and obviously politically inspired doubts were raised about the authenticity of Tinubu’s graduation from CSU, I took advantage of my being a professor here in the US and reached out to friends and colleagues at the school to help me verify this information.

“A friend, who is a professor of English at the university, went to the registrar’s office and confirmed that Tinubu indeed attended and graduated from CSU. “Please be advised that Bola A Tinubu attended Chicago State University from August 1977 [to] June 1979. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with Honors on June 22, 1979. His major was accounting,” a statement from the office of the Registrar of the university read.”

On why the CSU won’t accede to the request for release of Tinubu’s records to third parties, he said this is due to the existence of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which forbids US universities and colleges from releasing academic results of a student to third parties.

He explained: “Well, there’s something called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which forbids all universities and colleges in the United States from disclosing the academic records of a student to a third party. Every year, I (and all university employees who handle students’ grades here) have to undergo training on how not to disclose students’ records to third parties, including to parents, without students’ written permission.

“Schools can only confirm directory information such as whether or not a student graduated from a school, which CSU has done repeatedly. And why would Tinubu accede in writing to his academic records being released to political opponents? Most people won’t, even if it’s just for the pleasure of seeing their opponents squirm in anger and frustration,” he added. (Courtesy, excluding headline, The Nation)

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