A DINO MELAYE PROBLEM OR AN INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEM

I stand here today to make a case for Dino Melaye, senator, Kogi West senatorial district and the Head of Senate committee on the Federal Capital Territory on this certificate forgery saga. Not because we are kinsmen (I am Egba abeg) but because institutional blunders, poor record keeping, negligence, corruption and lawlessness are the major reasons why most things termed crime abroad are almost legitimate acts in Nigeria.

I am not sure whether Dino Melaye graduated from ABU, Zaria but I can confirm that he was there. I am not sure if he took another GCE to complement his o-levels but it is glaring that he once failed woefully. I can assure you that Dino Melaye went for NYSC but I am not sure if he was not a deviant one that broke camp rules. However, considering his rascality, it remains very difficult to say there is something that Dino Melaye cannot do.

I really will not worry myself about the status of the qualification of Dino Melaye. It is a non-issue delayed by the Ahmadu Bello University. As soon as ABU speaks, Melaye will either fall from the hallowed chamber of expressive rascality into the familiar elongated judicial process in Nigeria that may or may not land him in prison. You may also hear ABU confirmed him as their former student. So I leave Dino Melaye alone.

My very worries are the structures and the institutions that gave admission to students with names different from what they have on their SSCE results. First, how did ABU give admission to students with names contradicting their o-level results with low documentation?  How did a school that issues  BSC in Geography produce a senator that has a BA from the same school? Are we sure there is no other ABU in Abu Dhabi or Toronto?

Harvard University and London School of Economics were asked questions on Melaye’s qualifications and this was answered in less than 48 hours. May we know why ABU is failing to tell the world the status of the qualifications of Dino Melaye? Why should the world be waiting for the deliberately delayed response of a highly revered institution? This tells us that there may be lot of rumblings going on amidst ABU underdogs or leaders as we speak.

It is this same poor record keeping, corruption and lawlessness that handed over the country to hoodlums and  fraudsters. I remain an ardent lover of ethical disobedience for public good but when criminals find their way to the hallowed chamber, you need not ask questions about why they threaten women, publicize their newly purchased cars or go pose at a Bourdillon signboard. What we need to ask is why an intellectual system should shy away from her ethical responsibility for the public good when the whole world is waiting. Such is the kind of impunity that we have to endure.

Such is the kind of problem you encounter when a full fledged convict who completed his prison terms can come to Nigeria to become a 2-term governor in a leading political party and on completion of his terms, not only is he reckoned with, he is infact celebrated, even with a 170-count charge hanging on his neck as he flies in. Morality and Honesty has turned to stupidity in this country. Materialism and wealth is more important than its source. Hard work to the youth is a time waster.

Such is the kind of impunity you get when a king in Osun State who got thugs to beat up a fellow Oba is shockingly identified also to have served some jail terms in Canada between 2006 and 2007. Such is the kind of impunity you live with when President Olusegun Obasanjo continues to allege that till today, the PDP chieftain Senator Buruji Kashamu dare not enter the State of Illinois. This remains a country where you can change your full names 6 times in 14 years and nothing will happen as we can see in Dino Melaye’s case.

The question is what policy framework is permitting forgers, drug peddlers, fraudsters, corrupt politicians and imprisoned criminals home and abroad to become leaders in Nigeria?
Do Nigerians link change of Identity to criminality at all? Has the law that bans convicts from ruling Nigeria being abolished? What are the unobserved checks necessary for citizens to take leadership positions in Nigeria and why are they not observed? Do the Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Immigration Service and Nigerian Prisons Service share data with similar organisations globally to make Nigeria a safer place and ensure that criminals do not get into power and positions of leadership? Why should we run a system where Identity Issues do not matter?

While “Melaiye” or “Daniel Jonah” may be good people, we can say confidently that Dino Melaiye, the 2-time senator that we know remains one of the most rascally in the hallowed chamber. While we do not know if Daniel Jonah was the one that stole TV in ABU and was impeached as departmental student union president, we are sure that the Melaye in the senate once took the mace away and had his clothes torn in a brawl within the hallowed chamber. This is the same man that could not stand the arguments of an intelligent woman on the floor of the senate.

And these are the same people that determine the salaries of hardworking apolitical professors,doctors, lawyers and scientists who can fix this nation. Someone who was not certified in character or learning but with forged pieces of paper will join in determining the salaries of professors. As at the first quarter of 2017, more than 500 Nigerian doctors had already written UK postgraduate medical examinations in preparation to run away from this country. It is for this reason that Nigeria has trained over 90,000 doctors with a need of 237,000 but only 39,000 or less work in the country as at today. Others are scattered all over the globe, away from senators that call a short one-week Harvard leadership seminar another university degree.

There is a need to overhaul the entire process of appointing leaders in this country. Criminals should not rule.  If our senators are failing certificate scrutiny, there will definitely be chaos if their tax files are opened. Our institutions must ensure due diligence and proper record keeping. The refusal of a nation to keep records of events and individual identity, maintain order and jail crooks for the production of world class Nigerian leaders  is not just suicidal.It is Self-genocide.