The Chicago State University (CSU) Registrar’s deposition raised some interesting points that merit further interrogation. He gave the impression that he was purposefully omitting some information. Even if CSU is a phony institution, as the registrar’s deposition suggested, the United States of America (USA) is the host nation. The educational institutions in that wonderful country cannot engage in curious practices.

Even in so-called third-world nations, it is unheard of for a student’s gender or admittance requirements to be a point of contention in a university. For instance, a university applicant in Nigeria must have completed at least five credits in a maximum of two sittings, two of which must be credit passes in English and Mathematics. These minimal requirements are never dropped. Even if a student is admitted provisionally, they must be fulfilled before graduation. Otherwise, he or she won’t graduate and won’t get a certificate.

Things as fundamental as credit admittance criteria cannot be an exception in American universities. However, the Chicago State University mentioned the graduation of a particular Bola A. Tinubu (another bogey issue since certificates do not typically bear initials, but CSU admitted a Bola A. Tinubu whose gender and the meaning of the ‘A’ are unknown).

One spent some time attempting to comprehend the CSU depositions. Many people may believe that the President’s person has now emerged from the fog, but this is far from the truth. The problems are becoming worse; shame on the CSU, who were inconsistent in their responses. Insolently responding “It’s a Nigerian thing” to one of the crucial concerns raised before the Nancy Maldonado court, the university’s registrar, Caleb Westberg, displayed too much dismissiveness and ambivalence and even ridiculed the country Nigeria.

Most of the questions had apparent solutions that the registrar didn’t supply. For instance, when did Bola A. Tinubu graduate and when did he pick up his degree certificate were two important questions he left unanswered. Since it distinguishes between students who graduated and received certificates and others who didn’t, this question may be the most important. Many students enroll in schools but never complete them. One’s set can also graduate, however, a specific student might not have discharged some carried-over courses and get delayed.

Because the South West College is a feeder school for the CSU, its students can complete their degrees there even if they have course carryover. In such cases, a student may complete all of their coursework at CSU, but they will not be able to get their diploma or degree until they have completed the failed courses at the feeder South West College. The registrar made no mention of this.

The South West College transcript of Bola A. Tinubu will make this point clear. While the CSU transcript may be complete in terms of credit loads, the South West College transcript is, at the very least, lacking in English. Since English is the language of instruction and examination, passing is compulsory for the students before they graduate or receive their certificate at CSU as elsewhere.

You can understand why I said CSU was being unnecessarily economical with the facts. When did Bola A. Tinubu pick up his or her diploma? This point is crucial to the entire investigation and can reveal all of the evidence, or lack thereof, related to the forgery narrative.

From this angle, the problem of the reissue of the certificate does not even come up if the said Bola A. Tinubu (whoever he or she was) did not discharge the carryover from South West College and was unable to collect the certificate. What hasn’t been issued can’t be reissued. When the original certificate cannot be located, most likely because it was destroyed or lost, a reissue becomes essential but this doesn’t appear to be the case here.

The mystery surrounding the collection of the aforementioned certificate still exists. Clearing it is crucial because a student who has had a certificate denied because they did not complete their academic requirements cannot issue a certificate to themselves. That will be faking. Why then did CSU hide this crucial information?

The University also claimed to outsource the reissuing of certificates to outside vendors, but it made no mention of the identity or accreditation of these vendors. Or does CSU imply that anyone can stroll into a business centre, design their certificate, and add any signature, as was the case with the University President signing the President’s version even though she was not an employee of the University during Bola A. Tinubu’s time there?

Strangely enough, the university’s registrar said that Bola A. Tinubu’s passport, social security number, signature, and other credentials were missing. It is remarkable because even in developing nations, such stories are rare. How can the university tell if the student they admitted is a man or a woman if they don’t have a picture of them?

The fact that the CSU archives, where all the yearbooks are preserved, only have the year Tinubu claims to have graduated in 1979 absent from the library is equally troublesome. This synchronicity is way too strange. Yet, the CSU Registrar, Mr. Caleb Westberg, dares to refer to “a Nigerian thing.” What should the strange disappearance of the University’s 1979 yearbook be called? Can we refer to it as “an American thing,” as he did with Nigeria? It calls for further investigation because it smells more like a purposeful attempt to destroy important data. This should worry the United States government because of the harm that could result if it were to completely escalate.

Investigating Bola A. Tinubu’s missing Social Security number is especially crucial because it is a person’s primary identity in the United States and is more significant than their name. Many details will be revealed by Tinubu’s SSN, which those withholding it are attempting to conceal from the people.

If it is true that at least two members of its personnel, including a financial administrator, were formerly found guilty of crimes and have served time in prison, it does appear that the CSU has a history of corruption. Is the Bola A. Tinubu affair a repetition of this heinous past or the emergence of fresh conspirators?

Before foreign media outlets pick up this narrative and further undermine the US and its strong reputation, the US government needs to step in. It is crucial to note that what CSU did in this case cannot occur at any Nigerian Federal University, including admitting a student without a photo, fingerprint, signature, or other identifying information. The call for an investigation stems from the assumption that if it cannot occur in Nigeria, a developing nation, it is extremely unlikely to occur in the American educational system. So, what’s going on St the CSU?

Lastly, the President should, out of love for his country and decency, pick one national television station and tell Nigerians his life story. They deserve to know their President’s real birthdate (1952 or 1954?), primary and secondary schools attended (he once told INEC he attended Ibadan Government College, but the CSU revealed he attended Government College Lagos, which was nonexistent at the time (1970) he claimed he attended), as well as the tertiary institutions.

Nigerians also need the President’s exact occupation since he formerly worked as an accountant for Exxon Mobile despite having a certificate that reads business and management. Complicating it the more, the President indicated on INEC’s form some time ago that he is an economist. The debate and misinformation around his name will be put to rest by the revelation of who he is, no matter how tragic it may be.

Nigerians would forget about it and move on. The President can even resign if the Supreme Court also fails to do the needful. His supporters who urge him to continue to live a lie do not love him or the nation; they only care about their belly.

•Dr. Law Mefor, an Abuja-based forensic and social psychologist, is a fellow of The Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts; drlawmefor@gmail.com; Twitter: @Drlawsonmefor

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