Uche Nnaji is Nigeria’s minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is currently in the eye of the storm over his claims to have graduated from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) with a BSc degree in Biochemistry/Microbiology in July 1985. He reportedly made the claim during his screening by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his swearing in as Minister. In addition, he is accused by investigative online journalists of having forged his NYSC certificate, which he also added to his official documents.
It is an interesting case because it is all too familiar. During the Buhari administration, the minister in charge of the country’s finances then, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, was asked to resign, after being pushed because she purportedly presented a forged NYSC certificate. Forgery, fraud and perjury are serious offences in Nigeria. It is frowned upon in Sections 362(a) and 366 of the Penal Code, Section 135 (1) of the Evidence Act (2011) and Section 467 of the Criminal Code. But it has to be specifically pleaded and proven beyond reasonable doubt, as seen in the latter as well as in APC & Anor v. Obaseki & Ors (2021) and Maigida Kuzalo vs. Bank of Agriculture (2025). Perjury is a similarly serious offence, even more seriously so, and punishable for up to 14 years under Sections 117 and 118 of the Criminal Code Act, or by life imprisonment. Perjury is just as serious under judicial proceedings and outside it. Beyond legalese, however, the imputation is that the minister of Innovation, Science and Technology has committed both a moral and a legal infraction. His traducers want him relieved of his position post, and they point to the Kemi Adeosun precedence. Some of them insist that the law must take its course.
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Leading the charge are the investigative journalists of Premium Times, People’s Gazette and SaharaReporters. For two years, they have been on his trail and his neck, and indeed both People’s Gazette and Premium Times wrote to the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) for clarifications. It seems to me that the first major part of the problem is the integrity of UNN itself, a university whose alumni proudly proclaim their university as the only university named after the country, Nigeria. UNN was established in October 1960, the first indigenous and first autonomous university in Nigeria. Indeed, over the years, UNN has produced generations of graduates who are proudly Nigerian and have gone ahead to make giant strides in their chosen professions. But in the handling of the Uche Nnaji case, I think UNN has raised questions about its own integrity as a reputable institution. Universities award degrees for achievements in learning and character. These are two issues in question in the Uche Nnaji case, and that must be a serious embarrassment to everyone who holds a UNN certificate. The university owes us a public explanation.
Nosey journalists asked the authorities of UNN a simple question: is Uche Nnaji your graduate? This seems like a very simple question. But the University is on record as having offered two different answers, speaking from both sides of the mouth, an utterly despicable behaviour by an institution that claims to be distinguished. In a letter dated 31 December, 2023, the University admitted that Nnaji graduated with a Second Class (Hons) Lower Division in Biochemistry/Microbiology. The same UNN would in response to another enquiry on the same subject signed personally by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Simon Ortuanya report that Nnaji never completed his studies. This gets all the more curious as Nnaji later went to court to block the Federal High Court from demanding the release of his academic records. Justice Hausa Yilwa declined. This must be very embarrassing to all graduates of the UNN. What has their university turned into? It is easy to say that Nigeria has happened, negatively to the UNN, as it has happened in every facet of national life, but it must be terribly disturbing indeed that such a revered university is setting a bad example for its students and products. It is a saddening indication of how the lines between town and gown have been blurred. Whoever is using the name of that university to play games with the public mind deserves to be sacked. The entire education system is in need of reform to the extent that this is an indication of the rot within the system.
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This speaks also to the character of the political system and society at large. Why do Nigerians claim to be what they are not? Everybody wants a big title. These days even mechanics refer to themselves as Doctor this, Doctor that. Musicians announce that they are professors. For some Nigerians, they would rather be addressed not as a Chief or Otunba, the appellation has to be High Chief, Double Chief, Triple Chief. Those who are lucky to get a National Honour appellation would return your letter to you if you fail to add the suffix of their often-unmerited titles. The worst part of it is the sheer madness with which politicians lie about their educational qualifications when it is not even necessary to do so. The 1999 Nigerian Constitution clearly spells out eligibility qualifications. For the position of President, Section 131 (d) thereof says a candidate for President would be deemed qualified if he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.
The same applies to Governors in Section 177 (d), and members of the Houses of Assembly in Section 106 (c). The phrase “equivalent” as interpreted in Section 318 (1) of the same Constitution provides a flexible context. Nobody needs to have a university degree to be a President or a Minister or to become anything in Nigerian politics. A candidate’s ability to read and write English is enough. Even a failed secondary school student can become anything of his dream. We are obsessed with paper qualifications in this country because we are all sick with public validation. Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Jessica Alba, great actress and entrepreneur, Oprah Winfrey, distinguished broadcaster and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta all dropped out of school. They ended up in life employing very brainy people with multiple degrees. These school drop-outs have helped to lend more meaning in the 21st century to human civilization. There are others like them in Nigeria who are celebrated daily but they have no certificates to brandish. Uche Nnaji however is the source of his own problem. He should not have claimed to have what he does not provide. He had no business doing that.
In this country, we have had presidents who did not even know the schools they claimed to have attended. We have seen Presidents for whom political associates have had to manufacture stories and parade themselves as schoolmates. This is one country where it is possible to rent a classmate! Uche Nnaji is probably more qualified than all of such persons even with his controversial educational background. He can douse the fire by simply apologising. He only needs to say that there has been a mix-up which he regrets, and that this is the handiwork of his enemies. He can go further and claim that this is coming from his political opponents in Enugu State where he is doing his best to promote President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term. He can even get his aides to organise a crowd of placard-carrying, slogan-chanting noise-makers on the streets of Abuja who will praise him and remind everyone that he is a Tinubu man. This is the least expensive thing to do in Nigeria today. Rent a crowd, tell the ever-ready political contractors what to say and they will do so with aplomb. Play the ethnic card too: Nnaji can argue that he is being targeted because he is not in the good books of the Governor of his home state, Peter Mbah, the Governor of Enugu State. He can even arrange protests on the streets of Enugu. What he does not need to do is to hire spiritualists who will see visions and tell him what he wants to hear. Those ones will tell him that his travails will pass and he will soon become the President of Nigeria. The spiritual doctors of Nigerian politics are beginning to get ready and they will seek out victims and if not, their regular customers will seek them out too. They are all part of the problem in Nigerian politics.
As things stand, Uche Nnaji may not be removed as Minister. And many would be surprised that he may not even be queried any further at all. In some other countries, what has happened to him so far is enough embarrassment for him to throw in the towel. But he will not do that. This is not the end of the story. Nigeria is a country where moral issues do not really atter. They get lost in the vortex of politics and religion. But in Nnaji’s matter we see the power of the press and whistle blowers. They insist on very embarrassing questions: how for example can a man who reportedly graduated in July 1985 claim to have started his national Youth Service in April 1985, three clear months earlier? There is also a Supplementary Examination written in September 1984/85 session which the same man in question reportedly failed and he was required to re-take again in June 1986. How could the same man present an NYSC certificate that indicates that he served between April 1985 and May 1986, and yet the NYSC discharge certificate curiously bears the name of a wrong Director of the NYSC who signed as a non-existent “National Director.” Nnaji’s critics claim that his so-called NYSC certificate is non-existent. They have provided in the public domain details of his submissions to the Senate for screening. The evidence is overwhelming.
The other question is: how many other persons in high places have submitted to the Nigerian state false documents and false claims as alleged? This false representation amounts to a false pretence, a “419” offence against the state. When persons in positions of authority tell lies to get to power, what quality of leadership can anyone expect from them? But this is not just a question of paper qualification or morality, it is also about the character of leadership and Nigeria’s leadership recruitment process. It is an indication, a fresh grim reminder that there is something terribly wrong with Nigeria’s leadership recruitment process. Why do we have a country where only the worst of us are most privileged in finding their ways to power and the best are mostly left on the sidewalks? The system itself is the problem. In cases like this and Adeosun’s before now, security agencies are supposed to carry out checks on all nominees for high positions. How effective are those agencies? They missed it with Kemi Adeosun. They have also missed it apparently, again with Minister Nnaji. Is the Nigerian state epileptic? It looks like we are indeed in the throes of epilepsy, to the disadvantage of the rest of society.
Those who moralise would be disappointed that the Nnaji case may not necessarily end up like Kemi Adeosun’s. His alleged infractions may not be proven beyond every reasonable doubt, even in the court of public opinion. It could in fact be said that as the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, he is merely carrying out an “innovation” with his credentials to prove a theory that lesser mortals are yet to figure out, this being science and the application of technology, not law. Those calling on President Tinubu to look for another Minister from Enugu State may be reminded that the President is too busy to worry about certificates, a controversy he is all too familiar with. In Enugu state, Nnaji’s supporters may come forward to claim that his problem stems from his political tussles with the state Governor Dr Peter Mbah. They would conveniently forget that it was this same Minister Nnaji who had a hand in allegations that the governor had certificate issues! True to type Minister Nnaji has now said what was expected of him: he claims that his current travail is a political witch hunt by Governor Mbah. It has also been said that the Vice Chancellor of UNN is a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We are told that the media is also politically motivated or that all parties involved are in “a co-ordinated campaign to drag a reputable public servant into the mud of partisan politics”.
It is an embarrassing show on all fronts. Present and future political figures should learn one lesson from this: do not claim what you do not have. mere evidence of having attended a secondary school is enough to be President of Nigeria, you don’t even need to pass, you need evidence that you at least managed to attend school and either failed or dropped out. That is the state of the law. False claims throw up legal and moral issues, whereas under the law, Nigeria is not looking for educated persons with big certificates to become leaders. This is the sad reality, even when those who have more money than brains believe that they are smarter than those who have brains but have no money to buy and rig their way into high places. Nigeria We Hail Thee!
Reuben Abati, a former presidential spokesperson, writes from Lagos.
