By Ralph Egbu
I didn’t coin what you have as
the topic for today’s discourse,
someone else did. I was watching
the usual early morning television
analysis on one of the stations when
one creative Nigerian threw up
the phrase. I caught it and buried it
deep in my subconscious. I didn’t
know a day would come when it
would prove very useful. You the
reader can attest it is quite an in-
teresting coinage, especially given
the certificate controversy swirling
around our dear President Bola
Tinubu, around whom the coinage
is woven. I can’t remember the
creator of the coinage, nevertheless,
the credit goes to him; he could
well be reading this, but you can
never tell.
Next, you, my reader, may
not have noticed something in
the preceding paragraph. It may
appear innocuous, yet it has
immense significance. I will draw
your attention quickly to it: in
writing out the President›s name
I deliberately left out the more
popular middle name «Ahmed».
The act is deliberate. In the past
few days stories have been making
the rounds that the president
has another middle name that
begins with an «A», they say it is
«ADEKUNLE». I don›t how true
this is especially in these days when
people wake up and create their
own stories and pass it as the gospel
truth. Ordinarily, this kind of matter
shouldn›t be an issue at all, after all,
there is nothing unusual in a person
having more than one middle name
even if all begin with the same
letter. It can even be a deliberate
cultivation to pinpoint uniqueness.
But given how charged the
atmosphere is arising from nasty
political culture and its aftermath,
especially the question of the
suspected presentation of false
documents, any matter relating
to names has become an issue.
Citizens take a close look at the
names of politicians and the certificates they present. Many
are on the crucible as we speak
over names on their papers. The
prominence of each case depends on
the calibre of the subject involved.
President Tinubu is being hit the
most, as we know already he is
currently enmeshed in messy
controversy over certificates he
presented to the electoral umpire as
part of requirements to stand for the
election held just recently. He swore
an affidavit as to the authenticity of
materials he put forward and that has
rightfully added to the mix. It has
raised voices. Not necessarily the
correctness or validity of the claims.
That is entirely a different ballgame
His opponents say their
findings show some of the
certificates are not the correct ones.
In other words, they allege forgery
which by our law is a criminal
matter. But the President holds his
grounds that he didn›t forge any
document, that all the documents he
submitted were legitimate outcomes
of his hard work and endeavours
through the various institutions
he mentioned. The truth is some
circumstances surrounding some
of the institutions he mentioned
have not helped his defence and
the response of Chicago State
University that they don›t issue
«certificates» in the pattern we
have it in our sphere introduces
another extraneous but very difficult
dimension to the talks and claims.
What all the shouting match
amounts to in strictly legal terms,
especially at the point of petition
over the presidential election, is
difficult for anybody including the
lawyers to say. What is not difficult
to say at this point is the damage
that has been recorded in terms of
morality, perception and imagery. I
will leave it there.
The matter is currently
the biggest issue in the country
today at a time when economic
miscalculation is making life of
ordinary people very miserable.
It doesn›t matter if the price of
petroleum products which already
is priced far above the reach of the
greatest majority has shown new
signs of a possible increase again
any moment from now with all the
terrible consequences on the life and
well-being of the citizens. Security is
burdensome but who is emphasizing
that front? The controversy over
certification which ought to be
among routine administrative
activities has overtaken the
increasing rise in the rate of
criminality across the country.
Heads of institutions of
government charged with
responsibility over such serious
issues of state are not giving
due attention to respective areas
of their job assignments. It has
remained a situation of everyone
to himself and God for us all.
Death and diseases are ravaging the land. It is true nation-states
should have institutions despite
that countries often assume the
face of their leaders. The success
of most activities of the state rise
or fall on account of the strength
of the President. This is where the
emphasis should be, ability. This
should be so after elections have
come and gone, unfortunately, this
isn›t the case with us. Cutthroat
contestations continue even years
after polls have been won.
The certificate saga means
nothing to people like me, it ought
not to be the focus of the entire
country if ours were a society that
runs on sane ideals. The first thing
about all this is for a country to be
worth the name, there ought to be
rules and then a political culture
anchored on values. Some of us
have made the point countlessly that
all facets of good conduct can›t be
the product of legislation else we
have a document so massive that
it becomes difficult to open and
read. Good conduct can flow from
conventions and acceptable values
in place. This is not a difficult thing
to achieve. Britain does not have
a written constitution, yet every
politician and the citizens know
what to expect from individuals and
institutions at the time.
In our case, we have neither
convention nor value. We have
succeeded in establishing a
society of anything goes. The
more subversive someone is, the
greater the regard and respect he
receives from everyone. We call
them «strong men or women». It is
the infusion of negative concepts
into what ought to be hallowed
processes and chambers that are
behind our constant lamentation
today.
We can see the level of harm
we have done to our country even
before this time. Muhammadu
Buhari joined the Nigerian army
where he got into the officer rank,
holding various political positions.
He rose to become military Head
of State, later contested the election
and won to become President under
a democratic dispensation; not until
he wanted to run for a second term
did we discover he couldn›t find his
first school leaving certificate.
Yet, this same system allowed
such a person to virtually walk his
way through various command
political positions. If truth be told
we are in ruin; a great society with
abundant human and material
resources ran to the ground. Even
inside a terrible state our reaction
rankles. All we do is stay in a safe
distance and point fingers. Boldness
has taken flight. If Tinubu has no
certification as his opponents assert,
the big question would be, how did
he beat society›s safety nets to go
to the Senate, become governor and
now President? Where have we
been? Ball watching? I thought we
have agencies with job descriptions
which include taking a peep into
very exposed persons› records and
ascertaining what is true, authentic
or false about them. What do they
do? Just shouting at imaginary
subversive elements? I really can›t
tell.
It›s been a long I began
detesting what I have termed «end-
point» reactions. We deliberately
plant contradictions and when this
turns out monstrous, we begin to
shout and cry. This approach to
state matters isn›t right. How far
can anyone go with the certificate
charges against Tinubu? Not far
beyond the dent on his reputation
not character. This will be so
because we all know the black man
loves «bad news» and takes it to
heart. If it weren›t so this is not big
news, especially against the fact
that we have a country on the verge
of economic collapse. Perhaps it
would have meant much if judicial
activism has a place here but our
judges hate it.