There Are No Obi or Atiku Fans, Only Tinubu Enemies Exist

There Are No Obi or Atiku Fans, Only Tinubu Enemies Exist

…And the Question of the Worth of Your Degree

By Kunle Awosiyan

To be a balanced critic, you must be prepared to read both widely and deeply.

Critical analysis requires more than the ability to write; it demands the capacity to research, interrogate facts, examine evidence and arrive at informed conclusions.

Without these qualities, a critic risks becoming nothing more than a sounding cymbal without substance.

Take the case of Reno Omokri, a prominent public commentator who was an ardent critic of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2023 general election.

At a point, however, he travelled to Chicago State University in the United States to investigate claims surrounding Tinubu’s academic credentials.

What followed was significant. After his investigation, Omokri’s position on Tinubu changed, and he became one of the president’s more vocal defenders.

My own experience is instructive. In 1999, when the legality of Tinubu’s governorship was challenged by the fiery lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, I wrote an opinion criticising the governor and questioning the election that brought him into office.

But as I investigated further and more information became available, I realised that some of the conclusions I had drawn earlier were wrong. I had not done enough due diligence before reaching those conclusions.

That, to me, is one of the most important lessons in journalism and public commentary: you must be willing to change your position when facts change or when better evidence becomes available.

Fortunately, the legal controversies surrounding Tinubu were subjected to judicial scrutiny, including proceedings that eventually reached the Supreme Court.

Yet, decades later, some critics continue to recycle the same allegations about Tinubu’s academic credentials, particularly his primary, secondary and university education, without offering substantially new evidence.

That raises a fundamental question: At what point does criticism become intellectual laziness?

In September 2023, Chicago State University issued a statement concerning Tinubu’s education. The university confirmed that Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended the institution and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree.

The university also stated that it was confident in the accuracy and integrity of its records concerning Tinubu’s completion of graduation requirements and his degree certificate.

CSU, however, explained that U.S. federal privacy law, specifically the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), restricted the release of additional educational information without Tinubu’s consent or a court order.

For me, that should have moved the conversation forward, instead of endlessly recycling old claims.

For me, serious critics should be asking new questions about Tinubu’s policies, economic reforms, governance, security, infrastructure and the measurable impact of his administration on Nigerians.

Before entering politics, Tinubu built a career in accounting and corporate management, working with major organisations in the United States and Nigeria.

His professional journey included:
Arthur Andersen, United States — Accountant
Deloitte Haskins & Sells, United States — Accountant/Auditor
GTE Services Corporation, United States — Accountant
Mobil Oil Nigeria — Accountant, Senior Auditor, Treasurer and Executive

Whether one supports Tinubu politically or not, these are the kinds of facts that should form part of a serious assessment of his background.

This is where I challenge those who describe themselves as supporters of Peter Obi or Atiku Abubakar, beyond repeatedly revisiting Tinubu’s certificates, what exactly would your preferred candidate do differently? What alternative economic policies would they introduce?

How would they address unemployment, inflation, insecurity, power supply, industrialisation, infrastructure and the cost of living? How would they grow the economy and improve the standard of living of Nigerians? These are the questions that should dominate political discourse.

I sometimes wonder about the value of education when people who claim to be educated spend years recycling an issue without attempting to discover anything new about it.

A university education should teach a person to question assumptions, investigate evidence, analyse competing arguments and, most importantly, think beyond the obvious.

It is therefore difficult to understand why, at this stage of Nigeria’s constitutional and democratic development, some commentators remain fixated on the same allegations concerning Tinubu’s primary school, secondary school and university certificates, instead of examining the policies and performance of the government in power.

If there is fresh evidence, by all means, present it. If there is a new allegation, investigate it. If there is evidence of wrongdoing, expose it.

But repeating an old allegation does not make it new, just as shouting the same accusation louder does not make it more credible.

The current noise does not diminish Tinubu. Rather, it exposes the intellectual limitations of critics who have failed to move beyond the same old narratives and engage with the more difficult question of how Nigeria can be governed better.

Politics should not be a competition in recycling allegations. It should be a contest of ideas.

And if those who claim to support Obi or Atiku truly believe their candidates are better alternatives to Tinubu, then they should sell their candidates, explain their policies and demonstrate how they would do better.

That is what an educated electorate deserves. That is what democracy requires. And that, ultimately, is the real test of the worth of one’s education.