MELAYE IS ARCHITECT OF OWN PROBLEM, EX-STUDENT COLLEAGUE
Omooba Risawe
A Student politics contemporary of the controversial Senator, Dino Melaye at Ahmadu Bello University,ABU, Abdussobur Salaam said he(Melaye) was reaping fruits of his labour, as a master of blackmail.
He was reacting to the ongoing certificate saga,the federal lawmaker is currently facing, adding that he(Melaye) had not handled his position as a public figure properly, leading to the controversies he was now embroiled in.
Salaam who spoke on the popular social media,pen pushing platform, said he was Melaye colleague in the university, where he studied political science, while Melaye was said to be reading Geography
‘Permit me to make an intervention on the issue of Dino and ABU, having been admitted and “graduated” from ABU same year as Dino. I use the word “graduated”, very guardedly and with caution. Permit me to say that as at the time we were admitted, Geography Department was under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)’.
‘In our 200 level, the Faculty was split and Geography Department had issues of where to fit in. It was initially placed under Faculty of Arts and later shifted to Faculty of Sciences where it is presently domiciled. The narrative on his certificate could be correct.’,he explained.
‘Dino and I are supposed to be ” friends ” but differences never permitted while we were in school. Till date, we communicate once in a while, but I daresay, he is the architect of his problems’,Salaam declared..
‘I have spent all yesterday responding to enquiries on different platforms about Dino’s status as a graduate. My take? We were admitted the same year, initially into the same faculty of FASS, and given that our courses were four years, we ought to have graduated same year’.
‘However, recalling how studentship in ABU was that period, you could never be too sure of the academic status of any “student “. What do I mean? We had “students” who were always around, attended lectures, participated in all student activities, were allocated hostel space, were always holding files and feigning academic seriousness, only for an issue to come up and you would find out that despite your having known them for years, they were never students but just lived pseudo student lives!’
Salaam who now work with Federal University of Agriculture,Abeokuta, and former Chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, said such feing attitude of some fake students, might make it difficult for any of their colleagues to believe that, they were not authentic students.
‘If they were never discovered, twenty years time, if a controversy arose as to their status, one would swear confidently that the person graduated!’,he stated
‘While this is not exactly the same with Dino, you cannot be too sure until facts are unearthed. I know for a fact that we were admitted together. I am aware that he was very active in student political circles, though he has attempted to insinuate that he was SUG president to shore up his political profile. Unfortunately, during our time, under the reign of Uncle K, (General Kontagora as Sole Administrator) the student Union was proscribed, so that claim cannot stick! He lied on that!’
‘As President of Geography students, I am aware that he was impeached. I also know that he had fraud related issues with the Kogi State students association and Segun Halilu personally had lamented to me about this, then. I remember that he wanted to join the OAU students club then, and we blocked his membership, knowing his tendencies to cause confusion and take over the structure of the club for personal ends’.
The university staff and an active participant on penpushing platform, added that, on Melayo’s status as a graduate, it is the university records that can show, stating that he may have had a few unresolved carry overs, and by his(Melaye) antecedents he might have manouvered his way.
‘On his status as a graduate, only the records can tell. For all you know, he may have had a few unresolved carry-overs. Knowing Dino, he may have bluffed, paid or manipulated the system to ensure those records are obliterated’.
‘If not, recall that given the circumstances of our year set, many concessions/ waivers were given to ensure that we graduated, having spent almost double the statutory length of years we should spend. Dino may just have been such a beneficiary of waivers. It is however not our place to tell, but the truth will unfold itself’,Salaam emphasised.
‘As a political scientist, what I see is a class fragmentation struggle. An in-house struggle within the elite class. Saraki and Dino are the subjects of attack today for take over of the National Assembly. They may get over it or it may consume them’.
‘However, I do not have my sympathy for him because he is also a Master in the art of subterfuge, blackmail and crude propaganda. Today, he is a victim of the same method he has adopted over the years and I am happy to see the tables turn!’
‘Unfortunately, issues like this have led to the results they were meant to produce – public hysteria! Everyone is now caught up in debates about the Dino certificate scandal ( or is it Dinogate?’,he wrote.
‘ Everyone includes me! Last two weeks, it was Apostle Suleiman. This week, it is Dino. Who knows who next week will throw up? While we dwell on personalities, and are distracted by their shenanigans, we continue to remain victims of the plots and scheming’,Salaam stated.
‘At the end of the day, things like this die off, others take their place in an endless cycle of politics of personality. While the elite class continue to regale us with entertainment, the real problems of underdevelopment, poverty, poor infrastructure, bad governance, corruption, and other malaise remain! God help Nigeria!’,he emphasised.
