[Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees

[xokigbo]

Yesterday, Dr. Farooq Kperogi posted the following:

"After months of delays, ostensibly to properly vet his appointees, President Buhari just appointed somebody that may turn out to be a total fraud. He appointed a certain "Dr." William Babatunde Fowler as the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). In a news release signed by Femi Adesina, this red flag appears on the man's qualifications: "Fowler, who holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree [sic] of the Irish International University, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and the Business Management Association of the United Kingdom." Well, Irish International University is a fraudulent, non-existent university ( see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7175730.stm). Second, the Committee of Vice Chancellors in Nigeria has ruled that people with even legitimate honorary doctorates cannot prefix "Dr." to their names, as is the practice globally ( see http://www.farooqkperogi.com/…/finally-some-good-news-from-…). I fear that if this Fowler's other qualifications are looked into, a big scandal may break out. His bachelor's degree, for instance, is said to be from the "University of Wisconsin" and his master's degree from "California State University." The trouble is, University of Wisconsin and California State University are multiple-campus universities; you can't just say you attended the University of Wisconsin without mentioning the location. The University of Wisconsin has 26 campuses, and California State University has 23 campuses. Something is fishy here!"

About ten hours later, he wrote:

"In less than 10 hours after my initial post, William Babatunde Fowler has edited his profile on the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service website. He has deleted reference to his honorary doctorate from Irish International University and no longer prefixes "Dr." to his name (see http://www.lirs.gov.ng/mr-babatunde-fowler-full-resume/). Good for him! But there is the small matter of presidential spokesman Femi Adesina referring to him in a widely distributed news release as having been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Irish International University, apparently based on the resume he submitted to the president. How does he edit or delete that? Well, I am glad he at least realizes that it is morally indefensible to flaunt a fake degree from a fake university. That's some progress--I think."

We are making progress, a lot of progress, Farooq. Name and shame them. Hold them accountable and watch them become pious. It is the only way out of our mess. Anything else is noise. Great job, Farooq. This is all I have been howling about. Name and shame ALL of them. I salute you and delete you from the list of despicable public intellectuals making money off our hell. Not that you were ever on that list anyway.

- Ikhide

[Segun Ogungbemi]

"the Committee of Vice Chancellors in Nigeria has ruled that people with even legitimate honorary doctorates cannot prefix "Dr." to their names, as is the practice globally"

In Nigeria many of the awardees of honorary Doctorate degrees use the title which should not be the case. Nnamdi Azikiwe the Owelle of Onitsha, gave that bad example and others followed him.
I hope your reference to Mr. Fowler should recognize where this practice originated.
I agree with you that the practice has to be corrected by all the people who are guilty of it.

Prof. Segun Ogungbemi

[Ibukunolu A Babajide]

Dr. Farooq Kperogi,

You are a star. Please do the same in respect of the doctorate degree flaunted by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who was supported by some questionable public intellectuals who have overnight become pious and self righteous despite their support of a decadent and obscenely corrupt regime.

Cheers.

IBK

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Victor Okafor]

To say the least, it's disappointing that the fact that the "Irish International University is a fraudulent, non-existent university," as Kperogi asserts, escaped the scrutiny (or lack thereof) of President Buhari's aides. This lapse does not reflect well on the quality and attentiveness of the staff who assist the new President, and it causes one to, at least, pause and think carefully before imbibing every pronouncement that comes out of Aso Rock. It does not send the right signal from an administration that has claimed that it has declared war on bureaucratic corruption. It’s also a huge irony that the person who has been placed in charge of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has no scruples about claiming to have acquired an honorary degree from a non-existent university! May God help Nigeria! Amen!

---

From: "Ibukunolu A Babajide" <ibk...@gmail.com>
To: "USAAfricaDialogue" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 2:04:28 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees

[Klalli]

Why is it important what people call themselves? In my opinion, this title business is not important (should not be) in the scheme of things. "Does the committee of Vice Chancellors" have any powers to "rule" on titles people choose to call themselves? What about those who call themselves "chiefs', "Otunbas", "Obis", 'Ezes" and what have you? Many accomplished people (all over the world) actually do not prefix their names or writings with any titles. 

Kasim Lekan Alli.

-----Original Message-----
From: Segun Ogungbemi <segun...@gmail.com>
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Fri, Aug 21, 2015 12:42 pm
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees

> wrote:
> 
>
the Committee of Vice Chancellors in Nigeria has ruled that people with even
legitimate honorary doctorates cannot prefix "Dr." to their names, as is the
practice globally ( s

-- 
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of
Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to

[Mobolaji Aluko]

My People:

This kind of scrutiny is good, which will make people clean up some of their petty acts, and if sufficiently egregious, can be quite disqualifying.  

If it is only a title and an "honorary degree" from a paper mill by Tunde Fowler, not sufficiently disqualifying, in my own opinion.  But if the Wisconsin and California angles are not true and don't pan out, he should step aside.

No wonder the following news in Business Day:

QUOTE

http://businessdayonline.com/2015/08/ministerial-prospects-shy-away-on-buharis-hard-outlook/

August 13, 2015

Ministerial prospects shy away on Buhari’s hard outlook

Fears over President Muhammadu Buhari’s hard anti-corruption stance and style in governance are causing hesitance among some individuals being prospected for ministerial positions , BusinessDay has gathered.

Informed sources say that some of the individuals being prospected for ministerial positions fear they might fail the stringent integrity test and would prefer to wait this administration out and try their luck with another government, or in another endeavour, while others believe Buhari’s perceived hands-on style could undermine their effectiveness as ministers.

A former chief executive of a bank, who acknowledged that his friend was approached but was reluctant to accept said, “Apart from the integrity test, he feels that he might not be effective and bring out his best, considering the leadership style of Mr. President.”

Another respondent, an industrialist said, “I see the situation like ‘winner takes all’ and as such, you will only function as an adviser, irrespective of the portfolio one is assigned.”

This scepticism of some ministerial prospects and the seeming lack of preparedness by the National Assembly, due to intermitent recesses, may jeopardise the September deadline for the appointment of ministers, announced to the world by President Buhari.

BusinessDay further gathered Buhari may have narrowed down  the selection to the military, traditional establishments and the international/financial community, and that he is mindful that criticism might come from those who may consider themselves as having being dumped.

This, according to some analysts might lay the foundation of a third party, consisting, mostly of disgruntled politicians from the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) and some hardliners from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Meanwhile, the nation awaits with bated breath, the composition of the cabinet next month, amidst the attendant lull in the economy due to the continued policy vacuum.

“Scandals and blackmailing of new ministers and appointees will force firings and resignations. The scramble for office will slow after Buhari deals with first insider culprits.

“The public arraignment of some former ministers and leading government officers will send strong signals around the country.      

“Economic activities will remain tepid until clarity on fiscal policy direction. The market will be looking to see how Buhari will move against corruption within his ranks,” says Bismarck Rewane, in the current note from Lagos Business School Breakfast meeting. 

Rewane further says that the appointment of cabinet members will have three tracks, comprising of influence from the retired military constituency, establishment (traditional rulers) and international and financial community, stressing however that the criteria will be competence, pedigree and integrity.

Opeyemi Agbaje, chief executive officer, RTC Advisory services limited, in the current “Business and Economic Review”, said the policy vacuum would persist till next year, as the cabinet may not be ready, due to the likely delay from the National Assembly, due to their penchant for recesses, even when nothing has been achieved.

“We hope the wait for policy and governance will be worth the wait and that once the cabinet is finally constituted, the government will swiftly and effectively confront Nigeria’s economic, political and other challenges,” Agbaje said.

Olu Fasan, a London-based lawyer and political economist, in his published article on “Beyond Buhari’s ministers: A thought on the mandarins said, “President Buhari’s unwillingness so far, to appoint his ministers, was thus to make the point that Nigeria doesn’t yet have a fully functioning government since a significant part, the cabinet, is still missing.

“For the sake of effective governance, this is not sustainable for much longer. It is certainly not sustainable or even prudent that at a time of serious economic crisis, there is no finance minister to provide political leadership and policy direction. “Instead, the Central Bank governor is acting as the defacto finance and trade ministers, making far reaching fiscal and trade policy decisions.”

John Omachonu

UNQUOTE

Come September....'twill be interesting!  We probably will hear a lot of "I asked my name to not be considered....."

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

Shaking his head

[Victor Okafor]

Kasim, you missed the point. The issue here is not whether a person has this or that title or multiple titles for that matter, but that the honorary degree title in question came from a non-existent university, and, by implication, the said title itself is also non-existent!

---

From: "'Klalli' via USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 5:22:37 PM

[Okey Iheduru]

It's not only Mr. Fowler. Read this excerpt:

"Several Nigerian politicians, led by former Lagos state governor and now National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, received honorary degrees from it [Irish International University] early in 2008.  In addition to Tinubu, broadcaster Bisi Olatilo, BEN TV UK owner, Alistair Soyode, Timi Alaibe, now Oba of Ugbo, Fredrick Akinrutan, Senator Grace Bent and a scion of the Ooni of Ife, all received a fake honorary degree in an event orchestrated by the fake university in London.

It is not clear when Mr. Fowler received his so-called honorary degree from the fake institution, but it is generally believed that his appointment may have been facilitated by Mr. Tinubu, with whom he previously worked at Alpha-Beta, a shadowy and controversial tax revenue company."

http://www.tori.ng/news/7113/revealed-buharis-newly-appointed-head-of-firs-hold.html

[kenneth harrow]

well, i agree as well. farooq is certainly a star on this list for his contributions; and now for his smart follow-up on this affair.
good work farooq!
ken

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[Ofure Aito]

My concern is if we can trust Fowler in greater things when he is so dishonest is small things like degrees and laundered profile. Here is a man who is not honest enough with himself and the public he is expected to serve yet, he controls FIRS: our Inland generated funds (taxes).
Obviously, from the excerpts provided on this platform, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu facilitated Fowler's appointment and as usual to control Nigerian finance as he did Lagos. His henchmen are being scattered everywhere like the proverbial seeds scattered on the rocky, sandy and fertile grounds.
Ofure

[Bayo Amos]

What exactly is Fowler's offence? And when has it become a crime for Tinubu to lobby for anyone?

1.Irish International University, though unaccredited by UK authorities, was in existence at the time it awarded honorary degrees to Fowler and others. In addition, it secured UK visa for  thousands of students from all over the world.

Besides, it used facilities of reputable institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge to conduct its affairs. This would have been a real scandal had Fowler claimed to have an honorary doctorate from a university, accredited or otherwise, when such was not conferred on him. That's where an issue of dishonesty can arise. In addition, he is not misrepresenting the importance of the degree; even the word "honorary" was not missing in the citation read by Femi Adesina, the presidential spokesman. As it is now, the best anyone can say: Fowler was gullible for him not to have done due diligence about the school in the first instance. Others were also gullible too. 

https://youtu.be/rqe-0q_RoRE  

Are thousands of students who left their respective countries, and perhaps passed through hell to secure UK visa, also dishonest? This is not an issue of dishonesty as some would choose to interpret it. If we pause and reflect, we would realize that, in this case, Fowler is more a victim of a scam  than a dishonest person.

2. If Fowler chose to call himself Dr. Fowler based on what he thought was a genuine honorary doctorate, he wouldn't have contravened any law. The most important thing is the disclosure that the degree is honorary, not what he chose to call himself. Others can address him as such or simply call him something different. Nigerians should desist from inventing a crime where none exist. We have the likes of Dr. Ayodele Fayose, Dr. Urji Uzo kalu, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe. None of them had or has a doctorate but that's what they chose to call themselves. Is it a crime? The simple answer is NO. However,  knowledgeable government institutions, presidency' speech writers or presidential aides should not dignify them with such appellations. But in the real sense of the word crime, I don't think we can criminalize their actions. If something is not expressly against the law, we should not make it against the law.

3.Now, Mr. Ofure, if Tinubu decides in his own decisive decision to control the Nigerian treasury (as you put it), what exactly is wrong with that? And if I may add, what are you going to do about it? Is it morally wrong? legally wrong? What exactly is wrong with Tinubu doing just that? Because we are fixated on personalities, we lost focus of the key things. As far as I am concerned, the most important things are as follows:

(a) Fowler has a degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. He has years of experience working in financial institutions (especially banks).

(b) He grew the IGR (Internally Generated Revenue) of Lagos State from about  3  to 20 billion naira (monthly).

(c) Apart from Fowler who has experience in actually growing a tax base of a major state in Nigeria, which other candidate(s) compare(s) or compete(s) with him at this time when oil revenues are plummeting? Who should get the job?

I think Fowler's appointment is well deserved and should attract commendation, not condemnation.

It is easy for many to see the hands of Tinubu in everything but it is doubtful a Buhari would appoint a nonentity simply because such a person is nominated by Mr. Tinubu. The reality of this case is simple. If Buhari is genuinely concerned and motivated about growing Nigeria's tax base, Tinubu or no Tinubu, there is just no way Fowler's name won't be among the top three on the strength of what he has done in Lagos alone. In other words, his competence fetched him the job. If he performed woefully in Lagos,  he would not be considered for this position. There is just no way Tinubu would manipulate Buhari to appoint him and if he did, it would be obvious as an unmerited appointment.

Nigerians should discuss real things, not gossips or inconsequential stuffs. Many have been convicted on the pages of newspaper for a crime that doesn't exist. He is corrupt, he is a liar, effing dishonest yet not a shred of evidence to substantiate all these seemingly weighty allegations. There is a difference between someone who lied about his qualifications and another that was deceived and scammed. The real issue we should interrogate is how  it was possible for an unaccredited university in the UK, of all places, to scam unsuspecting students all around the world. How did they do it for  seven years before the BBC exposed them? Call out the real liars, the real criminals, not the victims.

Thanks,

Bayo.

[kenneth harrow]

bayo, fair enough to give the other side. i like to read it too.
but i have to say, if he was presented as having a degree from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, and presents it on his cv as University of Wisconsin, that is relatively speaking dishonest. i'm sure most people on the list appreciate the difference.
ken

[Bayo Amos]

Ken,

I appreciate the difference. I know there are multi-campus systems in places like Texas, California, Wisconsin etc.  Even at that,  that's not being dishonest. However, if he was presented as having a degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (a more prestigious one) when he graduated from Whitewater, it would be a CLEAR case of dishonesty. 

Thanks,

bayo.

[Chika Onyeani]

Recent Articles

• AFRICAN SHOT DEAD AT FEDERAL BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY
• 
  
• SAM UKWUACHU, BAYLOR DE, FOUND GUILTY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
• 
  
• REV. DILLON AND THE NY CHRISTIAN TIMES FETED AT THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN’S OFFICE OF MACY’S
• 
  
• MANDELA’S GRANDSON ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED RAPE

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Bayo Amos:

May your tribe increase!

You must understand that Nigerians are constantly trying to fight both old battles with new weapons.   And Tinubu is a convenient political scarecrow.

There is also a proxy battle that they won't talk about: Buhari's certificate matter...and every one of his appointees will be attempted to be bloodied/muddied.

Did I hear "bones?"

And there you have it.


Bolaji Aluko

[Klalli]

I actually get the point. Nobody has said the institution is non-existent. My comments will apply if the title was from an established and well recognized university. Read my comments again 'this title business is not important in the scheme of things". We as a society pay too much attention to titles (Engineer Z, General Y, Doctor Q, Chief K). What difference has all these titles made in the lives of our people?

[Victor Okafor]

Bayo:

Your apparently corrective rejoinder, in so far as it pertains to whether Irish International University exists or not, is appreciated. One wonders what Farooq Kperogi, who initiated the debate, might say about your comments. 

---

From: "Bayo Amos" <aae...@gmail.com>
To: "usaafricadialogue" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2015 8:09:21 AM

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees

[Ofure Aito]

Mr Bayo,
First, I neither disdained the work profile of Fowler nor disregarded his work ethics. However, for such a high flier, I do expect him to have pruned the institution offering such an award and to what end? That speaks your language: gullibility...  and that is intolerable! Note also that we are experiencing a new season of accountability and probity, so, what was taken for granted yesterday may not pass the test today no matter what your record says. I was enthralled by his appointment but that minor omission in the desire for an appellation says a lot. Yes, I actually campaigned against Mr Jonathan and his falsified PhD. Obviously, we are a people titles.
Second, on Tinubu nominating candidates to meet his financial thirst, I do see a lot wrong in that. Here we campaigned for change and not for one man to control my economic contribution to the development of the State! It is the accommodation of such that built hydra-headed corrupt practices in the nation. Nigeria is owned by an appropriated 170million people. The Tinubu investment in PMB is not for the 170million Nigerians' interest. PMB was an instrument to a dream and drive. But to the man on the street, including I, PMB is a stable presence needed to drive Nigeria to the next level.
Third, if a Nigerian left the shore of home country for another and he/she was scammed by such institutions, he/she must take the blame alone without the usual passing of the blames to another by way of making room for excuses.
Whatever decision one makes, he/she must take the consequences that go with such: whether positive or negative. It is the personality and work ethics of PMB that garnered the political support and respect for him when it was most needed. Even you and I as academics must submit to such public scrutiny if offered public offices.

Ofure O. M. Aito (PhD) (University of Lagos)
Department of English and Communications
College of Humanities
Redeemer's University, Mowe
Ogun State, Nigeria

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/usaafricadialogue/Zi5--HT6z4k/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.

[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

By what logic are we supposed to accept the claim that Mr. Fowler is/was a naive victim of academic fraud? Unfortunately simple chronology disturbs this claim. The linked BBC report which exposed Irish International University as a degree mill is from 2008. This is 2015. To believe that Fowler was hoodwinked one would have to believe that the BBC report and the consequent revelations, scandal, and discussions around it somehow passed Mr. Fowler by for seven years, that as of a few days ago when he was still referring to himself as "Dr" in his CV and when his official resume still included a reference to the honorary degree from IIU, he didn't know that the "university" had been exposed and discredited as a bogus institution selling bogus degrees. That would be a huge leap of credulity. Sorry, but it doesn't wash. He didn't think he would be found out. Once he was exposed, he went to his official website and scrubbed the references. He is not a victim. He is a sloppy, insecure, title-hungry man who knew exactly what he was doing and hoped that his little secret would not be exposed, this being Nigeria where many important people parade similarly bogus degrees.

By the way, Bayo Amos is the same person who continues to deny that Tinubu was a drug baron and made his first load of money from being a key member of a drug syndicate. Even after I provided links to the public court records of the big plea deal graphically detailing Tinubu's role in the syndicate, Amos still won't admit that the man had done anything wrong, dismissing the evidence. Even Tinubu's brazen theft of Lagos tax revenue through his Alpha Beta company in a consultancy contract signed while he was governor (a clear conflict of interest corruption) was brushed aside by Amos as a legit transaction. I lost all respect for Bayo Amos from that encounter. He would defend anyone and anything associated with Tinubu no matter how indefensible. I just hope Fowler, who worked for Tinubu in Alpha Beta, does not connive with his godfather to appoint Alpha Beta as Nigeria's tax consultant. Let the Alpha Beta malfeasance end in Lagos.

Fowler may yet turn out to be a great tax revenue czar for Nigeria, and in fact this scandal may push him to prove a point and confound the negative impressions the controversy may have planted in the minds of Nigeria. Even so, he will and should be remembered not as a victim of a degree mill fraud but as a deliberate patron of a fraudulent "university" who got found out.

[Bayo Amos]

Mr. Ofure,

There is no shred of doubt, at least as far as I am concerned, that Fowler is a gullible fellow. But he doesn't take the blame alone.

He, just like several victims, would have been provided with documentation to at least process a visa. So, that coverage that they could legitimately bring people to UK provided some assurance to victims.

However, if there was a system in place that made it impossible for an unaccredited institution to bring students to UK, it wouldn't take even a year to find out IIU was a scam. And since many UK citizens would know it was a scam anyway, there would be no market to feast on.

So, he shares part of the blame as far as his gullibility goes, but certainly not all. And he is still a victim.

Thanks,

bayo.

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Dr.  Ofure Alto

As a lecturer in our Redemer's University, you have a particular responsibility not to bear false witness against anybody.

You wrote below that President Goodluck Jonathan's PhD was "falsified".  That is false.  Not only has the University of Port Harcourt certified it, but my own private investigation of the issue at its height (or depth) of the accusation indicated that he truly earned the PhD.

So let's stop denigrating his degree for petty political reasons, otherwise I might ask my colleague at Unilag to withdraw your own PhD degree for suspicion of discriminatory gullibility.

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

[Bayo Amos]

Moses,

You are a funny person.

You need not fight old battles with new weapons, especially defective new weapons. All you have to do is make additional comments on that same thread we discussed extensively on Bola Tinubu.

I still have questions there you couldn't answer and the thread is still open. if you have new evidence, you should provide it.

It wasn't me that didn't call Tinubu a drug baron, it was you who couldn't provide an evidence that would make the allegation stick.

it wasn't me that didn't call Bola Tinubu a corrupt thief, it was you who couldn't provide the evidence to make the allegations stick.

It wasn't me who didn't call bola Tinubu a certificate forger, it was you who couldn't provide the evidence to make the allegation stick.

Anyone,including Moses can make an allegation but once you are incapacitated by scarcity of facts to substantiate such allegation, you should be courageous enough to admit them as just mere opinions.

For instance, I can say Moses is a liar  but once i am unable to provide evidence to support that allegation, it becomes my worthless opinion.

Moses, find below my response to your questions on Alpha Beta. It is still very relevant:

"

1.How is it a crime for Bola Tinubu to own Alpha Beta? And what's wrong if Alpha Beta collects revenue for Lagos? Moses, where is the conflict of interest here? What exactly is dirty about this? Where is it written that a certain Bola Tinubu must not transact business with Lagos State?  Are you saying because Bola Tinubu was once a governor in Lagos he has no right to own legitimate business in Lagos? If you cared to check details about Alpha Beta, you would know its clientele extend beyond Lagos.

http://www.alpha-beta.net/clients.htm  Again, is it wrong for Tinubu to actually own Alpha Beta (assuming he is the owner)? What is wrong in getting commissions for tax collection? I just don't get it. This is nothing but pure nonsense. Again, if Tinubu has done anything wrong, why can't the government prosecute him? Is it not lazy to just say Tinubu is corrupt when all you have are nothing more than your opinions? Where are the facts? " 

I have told you, repeatedly, that perception is different from reality. And the simple fact that what you would love to be your reality turns out to be a mere perception seems to rankle you. Any allegation you have no evidence to prove, please keep it within you as your opinion. I have had cause to state on this forum and I am repeating it again that a thousand worthless opinions is not equal to a single statement of fact. So, opinions are free and you can hold as many as you deem fit.

As far as Fowler is concerned, if you can prove that he lied about being conferred with an honorary doctorate or that IIU was never in existence, you would have done your job of exposing him as a fraud. However, if all you have is an assumption (because that is what it is) that he was 'enjoying" the title, then you are simply entitled to your opinion. Some would also believe he wasn't aware. And I just don't think he would be aware and still deliberately chose to embarrass himself. When he is aware that the university is no longer in existence, what's the best rational step he should take? Keep the title?  Ha ba! The rational step is to remove it from anything that pertains to him; how this is lost on you is just unbelievable. In fact, what is irrational would be for him to know  but still choose to do nothing about it.

Thanks,

bayo.

[Farooq A. Kperogi]

Bayo says: “Irish International University, though unaccredited by UK authorities, was in existence at the time it awarded honorary degrees to Fowler and others. In addition, it secured UK visa for thousands of students from all over the world. Besides, it used facilities of reputable institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge to conduct its affairs.”

 

Irish International University is neither Irish nor a university. It never had a physical presence anywhere at any time; all it had at the time it "awarded" Fowler a doctorate--and that it still has now-- was a website, a web of intricate but easily detectable fraud. Plus, it has been in the news as a scam operation perpetrated by dodgy Malaysians with UK collaborators. As early as 2005, the Irish ambassador to Malaysia called the attention of Malaysian authorities to the scam that was Irish International University. ”They do not offer any courses or conduct any classes in Ireland. I find the name is itself a deception because they are neither Irish nor a university," the ambassador wrote in a July 24 2005 letter, according to the New Strait Times. "I think the Malaysian authorities are aware of this and I hope they will take action to prevent people from being deceived into thinking they have qualifications from an Irish university."

 

Fowler's "honorary professional doctorate," as he called it in his edited Wikipedia profile, was awarded in June 2007, two clear years after the Irish ambassador had warned that Irish International University was a scam. So the university was NOT “in existence at the time it awarded honorary degrees to Fowler and others."

 

I also find your parenthetic phrase "though unaccredited by UK authorities" and your imputation that using facilities from "reputable universities" to perpetrate a scam makes the scam legitimate rather curious, to put it nicely. Why do you expect UK authorities to accredit an Irish university? And why doesn't it even strike you as odd that a university that bills itself "Irish" isn't operating in Ireland but in the UK? (Fowler accepted his award in the UK, not Ireland, although Ireland, where the university is supposed to be located, is a mere 610 kilometers from England). Would it make sense, for instance, for a university that calls itself "Ghanaian International University" to award degrees in Nigeria on the campus of, say, the University of Ibadan and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka? Why isn’t an “Irish International University” awarding degrees in Ireland? If that's not a prima facie red flag of a scam, I don’t know what is.

 

2. Bayo says: "This would have been a real scandal had Fowler claimed to have an honorary doctorate from a university, accredited or otherwise, when such was not conferred on him. That's where an issue of dishonesty can arise. In addition, he is not misrepresenting the importance of the degree; even the word "honorary" was not missing in the citation read by Femi Adesina, the presidential spokesman. As it is now, the best anyone can say: Fowler was gullible for him not to have done due diligence about the school in the first instance. Others were also gullible too.” 

 

The dishonesty is in knowingly flaunting a fake degree from a fake university even after it has been exposed as fake by BBC, SaharaReporters, and several other credible news platforms.  He has played up the honorary doctorate as a mark of honor, as a global endorsement of his impressive accomplishments or, to use the words in his official profiles (before they were scrubbed after I called attention to them), “in recognition of his works.” But the point at issue isn’t even the valence Fowler attached to the bogus degree; it is that he flaunts it, and even mentions it on the resume he submitted to the president (as evidenced from the  fact that presidential spokesman Femi Adesina had the need to bring it to the world's attention to signal the appointee's accomplishments) even after it has been carefully documented that Irish International University is a scam enterprise that was registered in the UK as a non-university business but that fraudulently rents the halls  of legitimate universities to award its fraudulent degrees.

 

Plus, Fowler isn't some dewy-eyed rookie; he is a well-educated 60-year-old man. If a university writes to tell me it will award me an honorary doctorate, the first thing I would do is to search the university on the Internet. (Google searches were already mainstream in Nigeria in 2007 when Irish International University “awarded” Fowler its “honorary doctorate”). He would have found the letter the Irish ambassador to Malaysia wrote to the Malaysian government, which was widely publicized beyond the bounds of Malaysia and Ireland. If Fowler didn't think it was worthwhile investigating the reputation of a university that offered to award him an honorary degree, then he can’t be smart. I won’t trust such a person with a sensitive responsibility.

 

But there is more: The Irish International University invariably demands huge sums of money from people as a precondition for “awarding” them their “honorary doctorates.” Fowler got his bachelor's and master's degrees from the US and should know enough to know that legitimate US and UK universities don't demand money from awardees of honorary doctorates. If his entire educational and work experiences had been limited to Nigeria I would be prepared to cut him a slack because I have been told that many legitimate Nigerian universities demand financial gratification from people before they confer them with honorary degrees.

 

 So, because I think the man is a smart man given what has been touted as his Olympian feats at the Lagos IRS, I am inclined to think that Fowler knew he was accepting a fraudulent honorary degree and went ahead and accepted it anyway. That, in my book, is a grave error in moral judgment.

 

 

3. Bayo says: "If Fowler chose to call himself Dr. Fowler based on what he thought was a genuine honorary doctorate, he wouldn't have contravened any law. The most important thing is the disclosure that the degree is honorary, not what he chose to call himself. Others can address him as such or simply call him something different. Nigerians should desist from inventing a crime where none exist."

 

As I said earlier, if he didn't know it was a fake degree in spite of ample evidence to suggest this, then he must be either mentally subnormal or recklessly remiss. If he knew it was fake but went ahead and accepted and even swanked it anyway, his ethical judgment is suspect at best. No one said he committed a crime. Things don’t have to be criminal to be condemnable. We are only saying that he showed a grave lapse in ethical judgment. And in a government that stakes the social, political and even symbolic basis of its legitimacy on its intolerance of corruption  and its promotion of transparency it is legitimate to question the moral judgment of a man who is appointed to superintend over the affairs of a crucially government agency like the FIRS.

 

Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com

Twitter: @farooqkperog

Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World

"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will

[Bayo Amos]

Farooq, thanks a lot for your response.

1.The adjective "Irish" means nothing as far as the physical location of a university is concerned. In the US, there is a university called Miami University in Ohio. Does it mean it's located in Miami? We have University of Miami Coral Gables physically located in Miami. While names can reveal location in many, if not most cases, it's not infallible. Also, the exposition of the Malaysian authorities did not stop the operation of that university or its website at least until the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, did an expose on the institution. So if the UK did not take an action after a warning issued by an Irish ambassador in 2005 until 2008 or 2009, where is the water tight case against an individual? If I followed your logic, I would state the UK was equally not a serious nation, or perhaps a nation of incompetents, to have heard such a revelation but chose to do nothing. Can the UK also feign ignorance of that warning or is it a case of dishonesty, too? Had UK authorities stopped the activities of this institution in 2005 when the alarmed was raised, a certain Fowler wouldn't be a victim  few years later. I must concede one point though,and I have admitted that much in my earlier submissions, that Fowler is a gullible fellow and he is not the only one. I would certainly not go to any institution that can't even use its own facilities  for such an occasion. However, such awards were not given in a hidden room or in a rented event center in some remote part of England, they were given on campuses of reputable institutions. Though insignificant in the scheme of things, those locations add to the aura of IIU's propaganda. Otherwise, Oxford and Cambridge would not ban IIU from using their facilities after the BBC expose. However, everyone is not Bayo or Farooq and many people are genuinely gullible regardless of  their education, otherwise no educated person would ever fall victim of scammers but we do know instances like that abound.

2.When did the BBC or Sahara Reporters publish expose on IIU?  The BBC published its investigative piece in 2008, almost a year after Fowler was awarded an honorary doctorate. Sahara Reporters didn't publish anything until Fowlers' appointment was announced by Femi Adesina. Is there a possibility that Fowler genuinely didn't  know IIU had been exposed a fraud until this week?  As a gullible fellow that he is, and to have gone for such a pedestrian honorary doctorate in the first place, he makes that possibility credible and I won't rule out such a possibility. If he knew but chose to keep and flaunt it on his CV, he would be a dishonest fellow. But can you prove it that he was aware of it but chose to keep it?  We can play with assumptions but I don't think you have a clear cut evidence he knowingly flaunt a fake degree. In addition, honorary degrees are awarded for a purpose. If he was awarded for being good at something, there was nothing wrong if he chose to highlight it. It only becomes an issue now because the university has been found to be fake. Even in the US, beneficiaries of honorary degrees do, in some instances, make contributions or donations to universities. In some instances, a whole college can even be named after people who make huge donations to universities. So this notion that it's a Nigerian thing that money is paid for degrees(honorary) or favors is not entirely correct. It happens almost everywhere. 

3. There is nothing wrong with  questioning the moral judgement of public figures, servant etc.  It is simple; if he knowingly flaunts a fake degree, that's being dishonest. However, if all we have as a proof that he knowingly flaunts a fake degree is our assumptions that can easily be disproved by another set of assumptions from other people, there is no basis to even make that moral condemnation. That ethical lapse must at least be established before we can begin issuing condemnation verdicts. I appreciate the fact that Buhari's administration stakes so much on intolerance to corruption but it's not enough reason to hurriedly "convict" a man without a clear cut evidence.

If Fowler with all his gullibility could be so competent in transforming the tax base of Lagos state, he had better taken a little bit of that gullibility to Abuja. Okay, that was a joke.

Thanks,

bayo.

[Funmi Tofowomo Okelola]

Regarding Babatunde Fowler:

"He completed a second bachelors’ degree program at California State University, Los Angeles and also a Master of Business Administration degree program at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1981." (meaning concurrent) http://www.lirs.gov.ng/mr-babatunde-fowler-full-resume/

Did Cal State Dominiquez Hills in Carson, CA  & Cal State in Los Angeles, CA offer concurrent BA/MA degrees in 1981? Someone should request his transcripts. 

Funmi Tofowomo Okelola

-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives. 

http://www.cafeafricana.com

[Farooq A. Kperogi]

I wrote to the schools on Friday. I am awaiting responses from Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez Hills. UW Whitewater confirmed that Fowler indeed graduated from their school in 1978. Although Fowler said he received a BS in Economics with a minor in Political Science, records at UW Whitewater registrar's office show that he studied "Business Administration and Economics with a minor in Political Science." That's a trifling, forgivable mix-up, although I don't expect anyone to forget the exact discipline they studied in the university, however old they may be.

Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com

Twitter: @farooqkperog

Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World

"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

If Buhari is to successfully begin to change the practice and process of politics and governance in Nigeria as he is widely presumed to want to do,, he must be concerned about the personal, academic, and professional integrity of everyone he chooses to work for his him- be part of his government.

It is fraudulent misrepresentation to claim to have academic qualifications one has not earned through a diet of examinations, tests and other academic evaluation, after a supervised course of scholastic exertion. It is worse still if the claimed qualifications are the basis for securing employment. Such a one must be acknowledged to be a bare-faced liar and a crook.

Why should Nigerians trust a political appointee who secured their appointment under false pretenses to be diligent, dutiful, and honest, especially in public service?  That they pulled a similar act previously is not any reason to allow them to repeat that success. Nigeria does not need any more liars and crooks in government.

If the late Gani Fawehinmi’s run against Tinubu in court, over his (Tinubu’s) academic qualifications’ claims was not frustrated by powerful interlopers , Nigeria might not be having the Fowler problem at this time.  

The point is not that academic qualifications are a must-have for political appointments. It is Buhari’s prerogative to choose those he wishes to work for and with him. The point is that all political appointees must not be liars and crooks. Any academic and other qualifications claimed must be verifiably accurate.

 

oa

 

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mobolaji Aluko
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 4:38 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees

 

 

 

My People:

[Salimonu Kadiri]

Dear Bolaji,
Titles in Nigeria whether real or imaginary are only decorative. That is why I think Farooq Kperogi piece on Fowler's doctorate attire is non-issue for debate. I am, however, excited to read that your own private investigation actually showed that Goodluck Jonathan was a true holder of PhD from University of Port Harcourt. In view of your assertion, I will be very grateful if you can share with us on this forum the following information: (i) The title of Goodluck Jonathan's doctorate dissertation; (ii) Year of Registration as a doctorate candidate; (iii) Name of his doctorate supervisors; (iv) Name of his external examiner; (v) Comments/reports of the external examiner of the dissertation/thesis; (vi) Date of graduation from the University of Port Harcourt. Providing the above information, I think, will seal the mouth of Dr. Ofure Alto on his/her assault on Jonathan's academic qualification.
 

---

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2015 18:07:41 +0100

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees

From: alu...@gmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

[Mensah, Edward K]

Kadiri 

You must be fishing or dreaming if you think any university administration will release these data to a Web portal.

The title of the dissertation and year of graduation are public information you may actually get on line.

But name and comments of the external examiner?

Do you have a PhD degree? 

If yes then try getting your own external examiner's comments from the rehistrar. If you are not lucky he or she may think you are up to something awful and call the campus police on you.

Kwaku

Chicago 

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

[Bayo Amos]

Sometimes we can't but laugh at some  ridiculous fulminations against Tinubu. Perhaps it's time we accepted Tinubu is indeed superhuman because he seems to have crushed everything against him. The same "watertight"evidence that Gani Fawehinmi would have used to nail him is coincidentally or is it miraculously or fortunately for him, is not available to other people. Eehyah, he escaped and now he is nominating another  "crook" even when where is no evidence to actually brand this one a crook. Even more painful is the simple fact that eight out of Tinubu's ten crooks end up being competent performers while the saints of yesteryears are nothing but meretricious mediocrities. Once Gani Fawehinmi couldn't do it, others were rendered impotent.   OBj was impotent, Yar'Adua was impotent and even our amiable GEJ was equally impotent. Tinubu should smile, he is indeed a fortunate crook. A drug baron that Americans authorities love and a certificate forger that worked in Exxon Mobil. A first class crook that engineered a coalition that sent away our saints, I meant  our harmless stealing is not corruption president.Those are the stuffs of legend. Some have even said on this forum that Tinubu intimidated Gani Fawehinmi. What is it about Tinubu that made all his political enemies so afraid to prosecute him?

If Tinubu is so manifestly corrupt and there is credible evidence, he wouldn't have dared PDP-led administrations to prosecute him but he did. If he is irredeemably corrupt, there would have been evidence, not gossips, to nail him and since he has many enemies anyway, his downfall would have been celebrated. He seems to have defied all their "logic'", rather he continues to shine even more brightly. You folks should take consolation in one thing though, most political careers end in failure and you might still have that opportunity to gloat if only you tarry a bit more. However, as it is now, we need many more people that changed the face of Lagos in Abuja. They worked for it, they have been  in opposition for years, it's now time for them to profit from their labor. Noise makers would continue to  do what they know how to do best but it won't stop the wheel of progress.

Those who have genuine concern would always be heard and if there are mistakes, of course, it would be corrected. No one is a saint, but the sort of destructive politics that makes people see reason but embrace ignorance is better ignored. it belongs to the past.

[Bayo Amos]

You are really on this guy's case. Good job. If you have more revelation, please don't hesitate to share. We need to shame them!😁😂

[Bayo Amos]

It is either you are a PhD or not. As far as I am concerned,  comments of examiners are only useful if you end up not getting your degree; that way we might have a reason why the candidate is deemed unworthy of such a degree. But once they endorsed that a candidate is worthy of the degree, their comments or whatever qualifications in such comments, to me, matter a little. I won't place high premium on them.

[Farooq A. Kperogi]

Bayo says: "The adjective 'Irish' means nothing as far as the physical location of a university is concerned. In the US, there is a university called Miami University in Ohio. Does it mean it's located in Miami? We have University of Miami Coral Gables physically located in Miami. While names can reveal location in many, if not most cases, it's not infallible."

Your contrast of contexts, while plausible on the surface, is actually deeply flawed for at least two reasons. One, Miami University of Ohio and Miami University in Coral Gables are both located in the United States, and there is a geographic justification for the appearance of "Miami" in the name of the former even though it is physically located in Oxford, Ohio; the reason  is, Miami University of Ohio is located in the Miami Valley. There is another example: Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Although Indiana University of Pennsylvania isn’t in the state of Indiana, it is located in the Indiana County of the State of Pennsylvania. So the names aren't arbitrary.

You can't say that of "Irish International University." First, the "university" actually claimed to have a physical presence in Ireland, which turned out to be a lie, according to BBC’s 2008 investigation. So at the time it "awarded" Fowler its "honorary doctorate,” it claimed, on its website, to be located in Ireland. So the "Irish" in its name isn't arbitrary, although it’s fraudulent.

Second, I have never heard of a university that identifies itself with the adjectival and demonymic forms of a country and not be physically located in that country. Even the "American University of" franchise is invariably associated with the name of a country (such as American University of Nigeria, etc.). So your attempt at justification really did little to vitiate or conceal the transparent dupery of an "Irish International University" serially awarding degrees 610 kilometers away from its putative physical location.

 

Bayo says, “Also, the exposition of the Malaysian authorities did not stop the operation of that university or its website at least until the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, did an expose on the institution. So if the UK did not take an action after a warning issued by an Irish ambassador in 2005 until 2008 or 2009, where is the water tight case against an individual?"

I frankly am not certain what you are trying to say here. What do you mean by "the exposition of the Malaysian authorities"? That Malaysian authorities exposed the university as a scam? Well, nowhere in what I wrote did I say or imply that Malaysian authorities exposed the university as a scam. It was the Irish ambassador to Malaysia that wrote to Malaysian authorities alerting them of the fraud that "Irish International University" was.

How does the fact of the UK government not taking action against IIU exculpate Fowler from the moral burden of accepting a fraudulent honorary doctorate and flaunting it? I don't get your logic. Nor is it of any interest to me what the UK did or does to its diploma mills. It's enough for me that had Fowler been genuinely interested in investigating the reputation of the "university" that awarded him an "honorary doctorate" he would have found plenty information on the web in 2007. The fact that "even the UK" was deceived (if that's what indeed happened) doesn't invalidate the moral outrage in a grown, 50-something-year-old, educated man accepting and conceitedly displaying a fraudulent degree.

 

Bayo says, "When did the BBC or Sahara Reporters publish expose on IIU?  The BBC published its investigative piece in 2008, almost a year after Fowler was awarded an honorary doctorate. Sahara Reporters didn't publish anything until Fowlers' appointment was announced by Femi Adesina. Is there a possibility that Fowler genuinely didn’t know IIU had been exposed a fraud until this week?"

 

Here, you shoot yourself in the foot. You admit that BBC exposed IIU in 2008. Well, if you didn’t know, Sahara Reporter's first story on IIU was published in 2008 (or perhaps in 2009). I can't find the link to the story now, but the latest report adverts to the earlier story in which it named Tinubu, Bisi Olatilo, Alistair Soyode, Timi Alaibe, Fashola among people who accepted the IIU's fake degrees at a ceremony in London in 2008 or 2009. Given Fowler's closeness  to Tinubu and Fashola, it's reasonable to assume that he at least became aware that IIU was a scam in 2008--if he wasn't smart enough to see the red flags from the beginning. So while I am prepared to be persuaded that it was his gullibility that caused him to accept a fraudulent honorary degree from a non-existent university, you would stretch any intelligent person’s credulity to the limit if you insist that it was the same gullibility that caused him to continue to flaunt the degree (and even include it in the resume he submitted to the president!) seven years after it has been exposed to be fraudulent.

 

Bayo says, "Even in the US, beneficiaries of honorary degrees do, in some instances, make contributions or donations to universities. In some instances, a whole college can even be named after people who make huge donations to universities. So this notion that it's a Nigerian thing that money is paid for degrees (honorary) or favors is not entirely correct. It happens almost everywhere."

 

This is another false and, I am sorry to say, dishonest comparison. There is a difference between honoring people for their contributions to a university and outright demanding financial gratification as a precondition for the award of a degree. No legitimate US university demands money from potential awardees of honorary doctorates.

I studied the psychology and rhetoric of scams. Awarding fake degrees, especially fake doctoral degrees, falls in the category of what I call scams of ego. Perpetrators of scams of ego, such as diploma mills, prey on the status anxieties of insecure, ignorant, and fraud-prone people. Fowler seems to fit that bill. I won’t be comfortable with that sort of person as my country’s tax collector. But the choice is ultimately President Buhari’s to make.

 

Bayo says, "If Fowler with all his gullibility could be so competent in transforming the tax base of Lagos state, he had better taken a little bit of that gullibility to Abuja. Okay, that was a joke."

That’s pregnant and explains your deep emotional investment in defending Fowler. An English proverb says many a truth is spoken in jest. I am out!

Farooq

Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com

Twitter: @farooqkperog

Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World

"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will

[kojo]

You can't just request some body's transcripts.

[Funmi Tofowomo Okelola]

I meant his employer (Nigerian Government) should obtain his written consent in order to obtain his transcripts. 

[Bayo Amos]

1. I think you have a pretty good rebuttal on point one but I won't place my bet on it. Since there is no rule that says universities must take  names of their cities, or founders, I won't be surprised if there are exceptions. Even at that, it doesn't prove anything except that Irish International University is fake and that if Fowler HAD done some investigations, he would find out IIU to be a fraudulent institution. It doesn't prove that Fowler investigated the institution, found it to be fraudulent but still went ahead to transact business with it. Also, it does establish that IIU made conscious efforts to deceive its victims. It claimed what it wasn't, simple.  Plus,its lack of physical location did not stop other gullible persons from becoming victims. The only point that is what taken is this: if one HAD done due diligence, one would likely find out.

2.Does it really matter who exposed IIU? The fact that it was exposed in 2005, to me, is sufficient. The legs on which your arguments stand are too weak to support them. Your entire point is this: Fowler should have known because 

(a) he is educated

(b) he is a grown man

(c) he is close to people who also SHOULD know

(d) all of the above

It isn't that he KNEW but chose to turn a blind eye. Plus, he didn't deny having an honorary doctorate from IIU when he got one. You can't even establish that Fowler lied or that he is lying. And if you don't have a clear-cut evidence that he knew but turned a blind eye, you don't have any point, really. Like I stated in my submission before, you are just playing with some assumptions not that you have an irrefutable evidence that shows Fowler is a dishonest fellow who deserves to be condemned for his dishonest behavior or something to that effect. It would be an entirely a different case if you can establish that he knew but still feigned ignorance. Then, that phrase  "knowingly flaunts fake degree" would be apt. You can't state irrefutably that he knowingly flaunts a fake degree and that's where one is forced to ask , "what really is Fowler's offence?" What should we condemn him for? Other than his gullibility, nothing really. You can't establish that this is a case of dishonesty, even remotely, and that's where the moral argument is defective, and perhaps subjective.

3.I take exception to the notion that the inability of British authorities to take action against IIU doesn't help Fowler's case. Had Britain stopped the fraudulent activities of IIU in 2005, she would have saved several persons, including Fowler, from becoming victims. Yet, it is abundantly clear, even from the BBC reports, that she didn't take action until 2009, two years after Fowler was given a bogus degree. A simple database that contain names of accredited institution  would readily expose this IIU at visa issuing points.  But we have instances like the following:

"In 2006, Sounak Halder, a student from Kolkata, applied to do a course through the IIU. A one-year master's cost him £4,500; at a recognised UK university he would have had to shell out upwards of £7,000. It was only after arriving in England that Sounak discovered his college was a tiny office block in east London with no library and a handful of students. "I tried to contact the university [IIU] but they didn't pick up the phone," he explains. "They are cheating innocent guys." He ended up going back home in serious debt.

Another student from India, at the same college, still hasn't been able to tell his parents that he was duped. Choosing to stay anonymous out of embarrassment, he holds back the tears while recounting his story. "I cannot cry," he says. "I have already lost my money and I'm never going to get it back. I feel like I have ruined my career."

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/jan/08/internationalstudents.highereducation

Was it preventable? Do you honestly think had those students been  informed at the British Embassy that IIU was  a fraudulent institution, they would chose to go ahead with the program?  How was it possible for a fraudulent institution in England to legitimately invite students to the UK for years? Why are we blaming victims of scams when we should be calling out the scammers? Accountability does not consist only in calling out would be frauds but also in ensuring that victims don't get unjustly crucified.

4.Like you, I can't find the link to the Sahara Reporters story in 2008. I guess, just a guess, that Sahara Reporters would have referenced that story had she published it before. Also, it should have appeared as something like "similar story" underneath her latest piece. It's just an assumption. The point really is this; if that story published in 2008 is difficult to access now and we don't even have a link to it, where then lies the plausibility that Fowler should have known because people close to him should also have known just  because Sahara Reporters published something on it in 2008?  Plus, how did I shoot myself in the foot? An Irish ambassador exposed IIU in 2005 or thereabout. Fowler got a degree in 2007 and the BBC published an investigative piece in 2008. How would an investigative piece of 2008 prevent an event of 2007? If it took BBC three years to fully expose IIU, why not give an individual the benefit of the doubt? The best you could say was that the BBC report should have alerted Fowler on the need to discontinue using the bogus degree, but that's only if he knew. 

5. The difference is that of six and half a dozen. I get a degree for my donations or contributions to a university and I get a degree after paying a token. You paid something for both, the only saintly ones are people who are recognized on their merits. Individuals who have legitimate doctorate are in this country. People whose stature far outweigh an honorary doctorate and even at that, "the" university profits from reputation of the awardees. Can't I also get an honorary doctorate from IIU by "donating" a magnificent building to it? Isn't that paying for my award in another way? Business is business, either through trade by barter or through direct payment; we can only argue that either is superior but they are essentially the same thing. Can't I also be given an honorary doctorate  by IIU for something other than paying for it? The citation would usually read that one is being awarded for this or that, not for donations but discerning minds know that's just a ruse. Do you know how much Fowler was charged for his honorary doctorate? How much does IIU charge for one?  While it is plausible that honorees would be asked for donations, it is unbelievable that many highly accomplished persons would go for it if its prize is explicitly stated on IIU's website. More so, many, including you, would have quoted the exact amount needed to get one. Therefore, my guess is that the word "donation' is being used to mask what is essentially a business transaction and that is what is largely obtainable in many institutions. It's not even that he got an honorary doctorate because there is nothing wrong in getting one, at least , for those who feel like having it but that the awarding institution turned out to be a fraudulent one. How is that his making other than he is gullible?

When you stated "No legitimate US university demands money from potential awardees of honorary doctorates.", I would equally state that no legitimate Nigerian university demands money from potential awardees. If you know of any or some, please share so we can shame them together. However, there are institutes also in the US that sell honorary doctorates for as low as $89, and they do it, according to them, legitimately. So, it's not only in Nigeria that ridiculous things happen, they do happen as well in the US.

Overall, there is absolutely nothing wrong in calling out would be frauds. It helps everyone and I, as a person, would feel real shame to see a fraud manning any agency in Nigeria. However, we have a duty to also ensure while we strive to hold people accountable, we don't crucify victims even if they are gullible ones. From all that is available as at this moment, it can't be established that Fowler lied on anything, therefore he is not a liar. It can't be established that he knowingly flaunts a fake  degree, therefore, there exists no moral burden to bear. It can't be established that he forged any of his certificates or qualifications, therefore, he is not a forger. What is easily seen is that of his gullibility and it is only in this one instance that it has been established, so it doesn't form a pattern. So what really is the case against Fowler? 

Thanks,

bayo

[Ofure Aito]

"Not only has the University of Port Harcourt certified it, but my own private investigation of the issue at its height (or depth) of the accusation indicated that he truly earned the PhD."

If I may ask, how did you conduct your private investigation on a sitting president then who had clout, power and resources to influence any decision regarding his profile. Please, this is Nigeria, known for all kinds of corrupt acts. Are all our universities not guilty of awarding paid for honorary degrees? Are you not aware people hiring people to write their thesis. So many hogwash things happen in Nigerian universities. So, spare me the verdict that Jonathan has been vindicated by University of Port Harcourt. In any case, I missed that part of the news.

"... otherwise I might ask my colleague at Unilag to withdraw your own PhD degree for suspicion of discriminatory gullibility".

Indeed, you amuse me and really beginning to sound like some wimpy politicians. Please, I encourage you to put to task your threat and let see how far you can go... On your marks... Let your race to withdraw my PhD begin with the help of your COLLEAGUE! I am glad you knew where my PhD came from and this is what we are talking about public scrutiny and responsibility.

The essence of this chat room is to begin to create some sense of responsibility and accountability in everyone, especially, public office holders to deter acts corruption. We need to begin to det up new road maps for Nigeria. As academics, we are also stakeholders. So, if Fowler and his other dishonest degree holders can read this then they should clean up the acts. We will not go back to where we came from. Mr Bola, I still maintain my argument that Fowler is Tinubu's lieutenant in economic malpractice. I just hope PMB is watchful and noting reactions to some of his appointees.

Ofure O. M. Aito (PhD) (University of Lagos)
Department of English and Communications
College of Humanities
Redeemer's University, Mowe
Ogun State, Nigeria

[Abolaji Adekeye]

"The essence of this chat room is to begin to create some sense
of
responsibility and accountability in everyone, especially,
public office
holders to deter acts corruption. "

This is so flattering!
I disagree with you Ofure. The essence of this forum in my humble ass
opinion is conversation. Dialogues across borders and I dare say
without borders.

And please before you go ballistic on me, I have not condemned your
assertion. I only disagreed with you and I suspect the irrepressible
gad fly, Ikhide, may have a contrary opinion. Pa, I didn't call you a
contrarian ooo!

>>> Cambridge to conduct its affairs. *This would have been a real scandal

>>> had Fowler claimed to have an honorary doctorate from a university,

>>> accredited or otherwise, when such was not conferred on him.* That's

[Ayoola Tokunbo]

Dr Aito,
It is true there are some problems within the Nigerian university system, but we should be very careful in our commentaries and criticisms; so as not to descend into sweeping generalizations. There are many honest academics - like you are - in the Nigerian system.
Tokunbo

---

Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2015 08:07:15 +0100

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees

From: ofur...@gmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Tokunboh:

May your tribe increase!  Ofure Aito is part of the university system, and read how he is broadly impugning the system, as if HE is the ONLY clean one there, while EVERYBODY else is not.....

Ofure Aito:

Notice that I did not attach "Dr." to your name, believing that you may be a product of the Nigerian system that you are impugning, where you allegedly received your PhD (from the University of Lagos?)

Don't be amused...I am now dead serious....I expect some level of seriousness from you on this matter, being a lecturer in our Redeemer's University, but you seem  not to rise to that occassion. 

So to disabuse my mind, kindly:

(1)  publish a JPGEG of your UniLAG PhD certificate here.

(2)  publish the title of your Thesis

(3)  let us know the names of your thesis Committee, and in particular your Supervisor.

(4)  publish here their comments on your thesis before it was awarded.

(5)  please publish when you began the program, and defended the thesis before your Committee.

(6)  publish your BA, PGDE (assuming you got less than a 2nd Upper, or you did your first degree in some field other than English and Communication studies), and your MA that made you to be qualified for admission into the PhD program in the first instance.

Until then, I doubt your own "PhD", and accuse you of discriminatory gullibility against my former Visitor, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, PhD, GCFR, and fellow Otuoke resident.

I am waiting patiently, like a vulture....

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

VC, Federal University Otuoke

Otuoke resident

[Victor Okafor]

Bolaji:

I like your sense of humor. I really laughed out loud when I read your quick reply. In any case, I thought--and seriously so--that I was doing the former president a favor.

---

From: "Mobolaji Aluko" <alu...@gmail.com>
To: "USAAfrica Dialogue" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>, ofur...@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 9:50:35 AM

[Michael Afolayan]

Folks: I say yes, indeed, it is blatant dishonesty, almost borderng on illegality, to present a degree from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, which is among the smallest in the system, simply as "University of Wisconsin" unmarked. The only graduates in the University of Wisconsin system that could lay claim on that appelation are those of UW-Madison. I have a problem with it, but it is common knowledge that in most multi-campus systems, only the largest campus and/or the headquarters of the system could get away with that tradition. In the U of illinois system, for example, the only graduates that could claim their degrees as coming from the University of Illinois, unmarked, are those of Urbana-Champaign - UI-Chicago, UI-Springfield could not! In the Southern Illinois System, only graduates of SIU Carbondale could claim their degrees as coming from "Southern Illinois University" umarked - Edwardsville, East St. Louis, Alton, Springfield dare not. I would assume the same would be true with the University of California system - only UCLA graduates could claim "University of California" unmarked; not even the respected Berkley could, let alone UC-Merced. UT-Austin would also fit that description in the University of Texas system - all other dozen or so campuses would not, not even the Dallas campus, let alone the small Tyler campus. The only benefit of the doubt to apply for the Buhari appointee's case is if either the gentleman that claimed this or the representative of the government that announced it to the public did so out of pure ignorance of the process. However, how on earth would someone who spent at least three years on the campus of UW-Whitewater not know the difference? It beats me! Better to err on the side of caution than be castigated for chubbying up a thin resume. Just thinking loud . . .

Michael O. Afolayan

From the Land of Lincoln (formerly from Badgerland)

[Ofure Aito]

Sir,
May your days be long.... Still waiting for the report of Bolaji's investigation.

Ofure O. M. Aito (PhD) (University of Lagos)
Department of English and Communications
College of Humanities
Redeemer's University, Mowe
Ogun State, Nigeria

[Mobolaji Aluko]

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS.....

Ofure Aito:

Notice that I did not attach "Dr." to your name, believing that you may be a product of the Nigerian system that you are impugning, where you allegedly received your PhD (from the University of Lagos?)

Don't be amused...I am now dead serious....I expect some level of seriousness from you on this matter, being a lecturer in our Redeemer's University, but you seem  not to rise to that occassion. 

So to disabuse my mind, kindly:

(1)  publish a JPEG of your UniLAG PhD certificate here.

(2)  publish the title of your Thesis

(3)  let us know the names of the members of your thesis Committee, and in particular your Thesis Supervisor.

(4)  publish here their comments on your thesis before it was awarded.

(5)  please publish when you began the program, and defended the thesis before your Committee.

(6)  publish your BA, PGDE (assuming you got less than a 2nd Upper, or you did your first degree in some field other than English and Communication studies), and your MA certificates that made you to be qualified for admission into the PhD program in the first instance.

Until then, I doubt your own "PhD", and accuse you of discriminatory gullibility against my former Visitor, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, PhD, GCFR, and fellow Otuoke resident.

I am waiting patiently, like a vulture....

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

VC, Federal University Otuoke

Otuoke resident

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Prof Farooq Kperogi is to be commended for the exposé. That it came now and not later. This is going to be one of the longest threads ever and President Buhari has not even named all the members of his cabinet yet. No doubt, when he finally announces all the persons in his team, one by one, the vetting and the authenticating of degrees from the highest to lowest by the USA –Africa Dialogue intelligentsia will continue without abruption.

 The Devil’s dictionary defines Accountability thus: “ACCOUNTABILITY, n. The mother of caution.”

That’s why President Buhari himself is being cautious and taking his time, since his cabinet is not supposed to be den of thieves or  a sanctuary for the nation’s  lootocrats, political 419ers and scam artists…

Along with a reasonable intelligence quotient and whatever formal education is being vetted, President Buhari is doing well in putting great emphasis on the honesty and character of his prospective appointees; since anti-corruption (under the rule of law and the impartiality of the judges ) is the backbone of a good administration and a meritocracy that is beyond suspicion of favouritism ( ethnic,  regional or religious)

This overemphasis on the Queen’s English and Oxbridge is puzzling (The Politburo of the Communist Party of China - a truly independent Country/ culture) does not encourage that kind of big grammar at the helm of affairs and the Honorary Doctorates from that improbable Irish International University is amusing, to say the least. Which bugger worth his salt would deign to accept such degrees?  

For those who may be ambitious and interested and have great “A” levels: How to get a Degree from Harvard Online

Once upon a time there were seven PhDs in one of the Saro cabinets.  What happened? Did Saro surge forth or was it professors of light only producing darkness?

Over the years Ogbeni Kadiri has indoctrinated me to the value and esteem attached to the late Pa Michael Imoudu (I know a lot of people like him). What do perm secs do? You may care to take a look at the CV of members of the Swedish government  or their predecessors, the cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt and before him, the cabinet of Göran Persson  - of course, these are my references, I know Sweden much better than I know Nigeria or any other country in Africa.

CH

We Sweden

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

I agree.

All public offices are trust positions. All public office holders have fiduciary responsibility. Anyone who falsely claimed a college diploma they have not earned through an approved diet of academic courses, tests and examinations is fraudulently misrepresenting themselves to others. The one self-impugned their integrity by so doing. The one’s intention must have been to mislead others for material or other personal gain, like securing a high public office appointment. Why else would anyone do it? The one should rightly be adjudged crooked and most likely untrustworthy. They should not be trusted with high public office. What else has/will the one lied/lie about? The bother for me, is not their competency but their integrity.

UC Berkeley not Los Angeles is the flagship campus of the university of California system I think.

 

oa

[Bayo Amos]

It seems we have moved from the honorary doctorate palaver to something else. That's fine.

"I say yes, indeed, it is blatant dishonesty, almost bordering on illegality, to present a degree from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, which is among the smallest in the system, simply as "University of Wisconsin" unmarked. The only graduates in the University of Wisconsin system that could lay claim on that appelation are those of UW-Madison. I have a problem with it, but it is common knowledge that in most multi-campus systems, only the largest campus and/or the headquarters of the system could get away with that tradition."

                                                                                           ------Afolayan

Again, this is a classic example of inventing an offence that doesn't exist.

If  Fowler were to be a graduate of University of Wisconsin, Madison, by your logic, he wouldn't be dishonest for no other reason than University of Madison, Wisconsin, is larger or is the "headquarters" of the Wisconsin's university systems. But one who graduated from a smaller university would have been a liar, an effing dishonest fellow that even deserve prosecution because one's action borders on illegality. If we domesticate this your logic, the closest, though not perfect, is this: it means one who claims to have graduated from Lagos University should automatically be an alumnus/alumna of University of Lagos, Akoka for one not to be a liar or a dishonest fellow; it doesn't matter that there is Lagos State University, Ojo and that her students could also use "Lagos University" as well.  Except it is backed by law, it doesn't make sense. What happens in situations where some schools are equally big and even famous within a particular state's multiple- campus system, and when none is made headquarters? Then there is no case of dishonesty??? The convention you referenced doesn't exist, you  merely stated what YOU thought  or ASSUMED should be obtainable. What you thought should be obtainable is not necessarily what is obtainable. If a or the law is defective or doesn't exist, don't invent one just to pin an imaginary crime on a candidate, I suspect, you don't like.

All students who passed through the University of Wisconsin system could claim to have graduated from University of Wisconsin, full stop. That's incomplete but it's not incorrect. What can't be claimed and would be criminally dishonest to claim is to say you have a degree from Madison when yours is from somewhere else. But "University of Wisconsin" belongs to "everyone and to nobody", apologies to President Buhari. The mere fact that University of Wisconsin is written does not necessarily translate to  University of Wisconsin, Madison being referenced. There are many campuses such as Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Stout, Riverfalls, Whitewater, Madison and even more  and each could legitimately be implied when University of Wisconsin is written. 

One more thing though, if I wanted to be "strictly" or "diametrically" correct, I would simply write University of Wisconsin, plus name of appropriate city. However, if I wrote only University of Wisconsin, I wouldn't have done anything bordering on illegality since there is no other university with such appellation apart from ones in Wisconsin of which I was a student in one of them. So where is the dishonesty?

Thanks,

Bayo.

[Michael Afolayan]

I stand corrected, UC Berkley is actually the "paternal" institution for the UC system, not UCLA as I inadvertently indicated in my last comment. Thanks, Ugo!

Michael

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

Does anything matter anymore?

The right and wrong of things should not depend on the interest on hand and personalities involved.

I sit in wonder.

 

oa   

[Bayo Amos]

😂

The right and wrong of things should also not depend on the slanted opinions, irrelevant assumptions, faulty generalizations and thus illogical conclusions of personalities interested in other personalities. We should stop inventing offences where none exist just to dress I dare say, a clean candidate, in garb of mud. 

I am just plain dumbfounded the extent we are determined to go just to prove a clean, honest 😁, competent candidate is dishonest. If he is involved in any wrong doing, it would be so glaringly obvious that no one, including me, would be able to mount a defense in his stead. It doesn't matter how long we throw mud at a candidate  and how persistent we are, if a candidate is truly clean, none would stick. So, it's a welcome development. We should not sit and just wonder, we should thoroughly scrutinize everything. Only that when we don't have evidence to make our fantasies (read perceptions) our realities, we should call it a day. If there is a new development, something serious like one of the schools he listed has disowned him, oh my goodness, that would be a real scandal. In that case, he will have to first of all resign or be fired ( assuming his appointment has been confirmed by the senate), then fight for his name including taking the school to court. Otherwise, he will have to be diligently prosecuted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment. No one, at least not even Bayo, would write a word to defend such a person. But if all we have are assumptions that can easily be disproved and some invented conventions that do not prove wrong doing, then we don't have a point really. 

As a digression, I am not that surprised any longer why many cases are simply thrown out of our courts for want of evidence. We tend to see what we think should be wrong and thus punishable, not the wrong that has been committed and thus punishable by law.  It's just my opinion, I may be wrong.

Well, I guess a lot is already written on this thread to give people, who are interested in the truth, information to form their own perspective. If there is something new, those who are investigating him should please share. Until then,...............

Thanks,

Bayo.

[Bode]

The distinction between the flagship of a state university system and other campuses of that system is an important one, but there is a reason why they all belong to the same university system. To insist that not stating which campus one attended is fraud or that not attending the flagship campus somehow takes away from the worth of one's degree is an extreme and destructive position in the context of Buhari's appointment of his cabinet.

Bode   

[Segun Ogungbemi]

If you are a graduate of any of the UT system, it is expected of you to write the city where it is resided whether it is a big city like Dallas or Austin etc or a smaller city like Commerce or Tyler it does not matter. 
Prof. Segun Ogungbemi

Third, if a Nigerian left the shore of home country for another and he/she was scammed by such institutions, he/she must take the blame alone without the usual passing of the blames to another by way of making room for exc Nigerian left the shore of home country for another and he/she was scammed by such institutions, he/she must take the blame alone without the usual passing of the blames to another by way of making room for excuses.

/>

[kenneth harrow]

the real problem here is not the technical one, but the intent that lies behind the practice. if it is to blow up the degree beyond what it appears to be, if it is to claim an honorary doctorate of questionable origins, then it is to be...well...a politician!  i mean, if your job is to lie a little, you've got to start somewhere.

k

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

Bayo,

You are an expert at muddying the waters, but an entertaining one. I have to give it to you because you do a good job of it. Even so what you are selling ain't finding buyers bro.

You have called Mr. Fowler a victim, gullible victim, naive, clean, and competent (am I missing any other rehabilitative adjective?). For reason known only to you and God, you have not once called him, a fifty something year old well educated man, a willing, calculating patron of a fake university, in other words a fraud seeking to benefit from a bogus honorary degree from a bogus university. To buy what you have been selling to no avail in the last few days, one would have to somehow set aside these facts:

1. Either Mr. Fowler never bordered to do basic due diligence on Irish International University or did so and still went ahead to accept their fake honorary degree. Either way, he stands indicted for displaying a reckless hunger for honorifics or for willfully participating in a fraudulent operation (take your pick).

2. The said Mr. Babatunde William Fowler willfully forked over a lot of money to Irish International University knowing fully well, as one who schooled extensively in the West, that it is not the norm for British and American universities to charge money for honorary doctorate degrees.

3. He continued to flaunt the said fake honorary degree SEVEN YEARS after Irish International Universities had been widely exposed as a fraudulent degree mill.

In other words, my broda, one would have to become cognitively dissonant and accord Mr. Fowler an elastic latitude of credulity in order to believe what you are selling. No wonder you've found very takers for your argument that Mr. Babatunde has done nothing wrong and that we should sympathize with him as a gullible victim. You are tenacious but not persuasive, sorry.

Victim ko, victimizer ni!!!

By the way, it's not that I'm surprised o. This defense of Mr. Fowler is actually mild when one realizes that it is coming from a man who says Bola Tinubu has not done anything ethically wrong, stopping short of calling him a saintly victim.

I am enjoying the acrobatics--just thought I'd refocus the discussion on the main issues and away from the obfuscating atmospherics.

[Bode]

Buhari's government is in a state of paralysis. The question of lies and exaggerations are very troubling but if they mean that otherwise qualified and relatively decent people cannot serve, it then becomes a tool in the hands of those who never supported Buhari in the first place and who still oppose him, and do not wish him well to raise the standards of propriety so high that they hoist Buhari with his own anti-corruption petard. It is important to hold these politicians to account at every turn and on every issue no matter how small, but if it means paralyzing his government, then, it becomes counterproductive. This is a variant of the call for him to probe every Nigerian or none at all!  

[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

Bode,

I or anyone could also turn it around and say Buhari's supporters are trying to blackmail his critics into silence on the matter of ethical purity, which Mr. Buhari himself has made the cornerstone of his government. I cannot speak for traducers of the president--they do exist for sure and do not wish him well. But there also exists many people of conscience--people who either supported the president or remained neutral during the last elections--who want to hold the man accountable to his own declared cardinal principles. If it is puritanism and atomistic ethical quibbling, it is Buhari himself who broached it and made it the baseline of our ethical conversation, not his critics. Remember that it is Buhari who said repeatedly through his spokespeople that the delay in making key appointments stems from his search for people of impeccable character, people devoid of ethical blemish.

Quite frankly, my own personal position, to which I alluded in my first post on this subject, is that Babatunde Fowler is evidently qualified on his own merit, without the fake honorary degree, to hold the position and that he in fact may go on to do a wonderful job partly because he has the aptitude and training for the job and partly because he would want to prove wrong people who now see him as an ethically challenged incompetent. I say this while respecting the position of people who say a man who willfully and unabashedly participated in a fraud and profited from its status benefits should not be entrusted with the task of overseeing our national tax collection bureaucracy.

It is only when you place him against Buhari's avowed principles of unblemished appointees that he fails the test. In any less puritanical order, this would not be a disqualifying offense, and even in this order I am not sure that Mr. Fowler's infraction is a disqualifier. However, it is only fair that Nigerians hold Mr. Buhari to his own proclaimed ethical baselines, especially since he is using it to justify what you describe as the "paralysis" in his government. Some of these Nigerians may have ulterior motives for advancing this critique, but others are just doing what responsible citizens should do: ask tough questions and raise valid critiques regardless of who is affected and what the implications might be.

By the way, even with the call for Buhari not to restrict his probe to Jonathan, the rank of those making the call divides into multiple camps. Yes, there are the usual anti-Buhari folks who want him to either begin from 1960 or abandon any path of investigations. But there are those like myself who believe that restricting the investigations to Jonathan's regime is both bad policy and bad politics, and that the right thing to do is to perhaps start from 1999 or any other REALISTIC cutoff from where the heavy rain of corruption is deemed to have begun beating us (apologies to Achebe). I need not repeat my arguments on this. In this camp you'll find many of Buhari's supporters.

[olugbenga Ojo]

Prof Aluko and Bayo,

Kudos. chasing shadows is stock in trade of some people. I wonder what their pedigrees are. Reasons should rule I think. That is not to say scrutinising people is not good; in fact we need it now more than ever BUT we should be objective. I wonder what guys will do to Tinubu if they have the opportunity whereas many of his feat they cannot perform.

Olugbenga

On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 3:39 PM, Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Bayo Amos:

May your tribe increase!

You must understand that Nigerians are constantly trying to fight both old battles with new weapons.   And Tinubu is a convenient political scarecrow.

There is also a proxy battle that they won't talk about: Buhari's certificate matter...and every one of his appointees will be attempted to be bloodied/muddied.

Did I hear "bones?"

And there you have it.


Bolaji Aluko

On Saturday, August 22, 2015, Bayo Amos <aae...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ken,
> I appreciate the difference. I know there are multi-campus systems in places like Texas, California, Wisconsin etc.  Even at that,  that's not being dishonest. However, if he was presented as having a degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (a more prestigious one) when he graduated from Whitewater, it would be a CLEAR case of dishonesty. 
> Thanks,
> bayo.
> On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 8:50 AM, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
>>
>> bayo, fair enough to give the other side. i like to read it too.
>> but i have to say, if he was presented as having a degree from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, and presents it on his cv as University of Wisconsin, that is relatively speaking dishonest. i'm sure most people on the list appreciate the difference.
>> ken

--

[Bode]

Hi, Moses! I think that Buhari is right to make zero tolerance for corruption the corner stone of his governing principle. This is fresh air and should not be a problem. I do not think that he should abandon his personal principles because he could not find enough honest people without baggages to serve in his cabinet. This is actually unprecedented from all I know. If Mr Fowler does not meet Buhari's ethical standards even if he is qualified, Buhari should withdraw his nomination. I see a good side to all this. Let him make his nominations and let them face the scrutiny of the Nigerian people. The cabinet and the size of government will shrink by default without causing a constitutional crisis. It will also make evident how deep and unsustainable the rot is. 

Bode

[Bayo Amos]

Moses, 

"1. Either Mr. Fowler never bordered to do basic due diligence on Irish International University or did so and still went ahead to accept their fake honorary degree."

                                                ........Moses.

Now, this is a statement that's logically sound it can't be faulted. Neither part(before and after OR) is certainly true but either could be true. What we don't have is evidence to make either a FACT. It all belongs in the realm of probability; it could be true, not that it is true. Now, you can't demonize, convict, crucify a man on the basis of a questionable assumption, an assumption that can easily be disproved. If there is no certainty that he knew but still went for it, then you should not state CATEGORICALLY that he was or is dishonest. If all others have stated is "Fowler could be a dishonest fellow", as against "Fowler is dishonest", I would not have written even a word. To be clear, Fowler could be dishonest doesn't mean he is dishonest. In other words, if the basis of your claims are questionable, you can't use the same claims to CATEGORICALLY emboss dishonesty on the chest of Fowler.

"Either way, he stands indicted for displaying a reckless hunger for honorifics or for willfully participating in a fraudulent operation (take your pick)."

                                                                     .......Moses

This is a baseless and an invalid conclusion. It's not an offence to get an honorary doctorate and you don't have an evidence that he WILLFULLY participated in a fraudulent operation.

I need to make it abundantly clear that we are not discussing Fowler because he has an honorary doctorate (there is nothing wrong with having one) but that the degree is fake BECAUSE the institution that gave the title  is also fake. In other words, the honorary degree is fake to the extent that the awarding institution is fake, not that getting the degree in itself is a bad thing. So, don't invent an offence.

"2. The said Mr. Babatunde William Fowler willfully forked over a lot of money to Irish International University knowing fully well, as one who schooled extensively in the West, that it is not the norm for British and American universities to charge money for honorary doctorate degrees."

                                                                                                      ........Moses

I don't understand what you intend to prove by that statement. Where is it written on IIU's website that it sells a degree and for how much? After all, we have an institution like, University of Berkley, in the US that states explicitly how much it cost to get one. That's not the case with IIU. Your assumption, which could be true, is that he bought that honorary degree, only that it remains just an assumption. If you asked Fowler, he might inform you he made contributions to the institution. I am not saying you should believe him, but do you have an evidence that would make you call him a liar? Plus, how did you know he paid "a lot of money"? Can we know the amount? Again, if you don't have an evidence to substantiate an allegation, and all that you have are a number of assumptions that can easily be disproved, what is your point really?

Like I stated in my submission before, business is business, either through trade by barter or through direct payment. If you get an honorary doctorate for making donations or for your contributions to a university and I  get one by paying a token. What's the difference? Is it not a difference between six and half a dozen? Once I change "paying a token" to "making a contribution", can you draw the line? There is no difference. I respect  institutions such as MIT, Cornell, Stanford etc that don't give honorary doctorates. But none, including the reputable ones, that gives such a degree is immune to the dirty hands of capitalism. We both know what that means. The word contribution or donation can be adapted to suit either side. So, we should take this narrative that the West is sparkling clean as just one side of the story.

"3. He continued to flaunt the said fake honorary degree SEVEN YEARS after Irish International Universities had been widely exposed as a fraudulent degree mill."

                                                                                        ..........Moses.

Now that he knows the degree is fake, though in a hard way, has he not removed it from everything that has do with him? If he took this action, why should it not be plausible that he could have done exactly the same thing had he been informed seven years ago? Plus, how many people on this listerv have heard of IIU until this case? I, as a person, have never heard about the school until when his appointment was announced and it was all over twitter.

3.1 "Victim ko, victimizer ni!!!"

          ......Moses

There are many victims of IIU's well orchestrated scam out there. I cited two instances in a piece published by The Guardian, reproduced below:

"In 2006, Sounak Halder, a student from Kolkata, applied to do a course through the IIU. A one-year master's cost him £4,500; at a recognised UK university he would have had to shell out upwards of £7,000. It was only after arriving in England that Sounak discovered his college was a tiny office block in east London with no library and a handful of students. "I tried to contact the university [IIU] but they didn't pick up the phone," he explains. "They are cheating innocent guys." He ended up going back home in serious debt.

Another student from India, at the same college, still hasn't been able to tell his parents that he was duped. Choosing to stay anonymous out of embarrassment, he holds back the tears while recounting his story. "I cannot cry," he says. "I have already lost my money and I'm never going to get it back. I feel like I have ruined my career."

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/jan/08/internationalstudents.highereducation

Are those students also victims or victimizer?  You can't just say because someone is an educated fifty something year old that the person can not fall victim. There are many cases out there of even an institution, not just one person, falling victim to scam. Did Ade bendel not wreck a whole Brazilian bank into liquidation? You can, at best, state considering his age and education, he should know better, not that he couldn't be a victim. Some would say If you have been honest all your life and all has been fine, there is that tendency that you take people at their word. True or not I don't know, but we can't say all honest people are not gullible and that the gullible can't be honest. What we can't debate is this: had British authorities stopped the fraudulent activities of IIU in its entirely in 2005 when an Irish ambassador first raised an alarm, there would be no victims in 2006(e.g the indian students), 2007(e.g . Fowler)  etc Even if Fowler was a certified crook that wanted to do dubious transaction, he wouldn't be able to as long as IIU was not allowed to continue its fraudulent activities.

3.2 "By the way, it's not that I'm surprised o. This defense of Mr. Fowler is actually mild when one realizes that it is coming from a man who says Bola Tinubu has not done anything ethically wrong, stopping short of calling him a saintly victim."

                                            ......Moses.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, BAT's, thread is still open. You are free to make more contributions there. There are still questions there you couldn't answer. If there is a new development, please let us know. We should not engage in an obtuse argument that leads to no where. Is this thread now a Bola Tinubu's thread? 

Thanks,

Bayo.

[Michael Afolayan]

Alagba Bayo Amos -

Although I'm not sure what you meant by your statement "Again, this is a classic example of inventing an offence that doesn't exist" after you quoted the first paragraph of my posting, I appreciate your passion for the conversation. Yet, I would love to make these points as clearly as I possibly could:

1. My reference to the Wisconsin case is based on a culture that I am very familiar with, and I have 13 years of being a part of that system before making that statement. I respect your right to take or leave it.

2. Yep, if Fowler were to be a graduate of any other campus other than the Madison campus, he is NOT entitled to the use of that designation. Trust me,this is a cultural or traditional rather than a "logical" matter. Tradition and logic are often antithetic - not my opinion; it's conventional wisdom.

3. I have zero knowledge of Lagos University system but I doubt if comparing what goes on in a Nigerian university system to what entails in American higher education is not like comparing apples and oranges. I would not use that analogy if I were you, but, again, you have the right to express your opinion as you deem it fit. Voice and voicing are attributes of natural rights.

4. It is possible that my reference to the Wisconsin system model may not be generalizable to all American campuses as Professor Ogungbemi pointed out in the case of the UT system, but to allude to my invention of a "convention" just "to pin an imaginary crime on a candidate, (you) suspect, (I) don't like" is an error of assumption because I simply don't even know this candidate enough to like or dislike him; I only contributed to a debate that I found to be intellectually worthy of my time. I don't think the agent provocateur of this conversation, Dr. Farooq Kperogi, had anything against this cndidate either, other than to ensure that truth, integrity, and accountability become parts and parcels of the MO of our public servants.  

I appreciate your continous civil contribution to this discussion. As for me, I am signing out for a more sacred cause.

Michael O. Afolayan

(Writing, Coincidentally, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

"Now, you can't demonize, convict, crucify a man on the basis of a questionable assumption, an assumption that can easily be disproved"

Crucify?  In the name of mercy and compassion, this could pass as some toothless polemic against the law of execution for the blasphemy of the Name of the Lord – at least in those days and in that Roman jurisdiction.  But when it comes to realpolitik in Nigeria, in some cases, in factual fact in their eyes, “the Almighty / the Lord” means either the ultimate power of “He who decides everything” Dr. Goodluck Jonathan – when he was president, and now Nigeria’s New Leader, first-termer Muhammadu Buhari….

However, Babatunde Fowler’s predicament is another matter altogether.  Not that too much is expected of the Honorary Dr.

He is on a different level altogether; at least he has not been making extraordinary claims or, after laying his hands on the Holy Bible, been issuing himself or having himself being issued with honorary or decorative doctorates, certifying that he is Nigeria’s long expected Messiah.

He strikes one as being more humble than that.  Ok, (all is vanity) so he wants to elevate his status a little give himself real rank in the academy’s haven  and  in the eyes of the beholders, with an honourable or not so honourable doctorate or two.  Five, six, seven, why do you stop?

 At least they (the corruption trial defendants) can thank their lucky stars that hopefully, no matter the extent of the pillage, the anti-corruption trials are not going to result in anything like the bloody Assizes – or on the level of the trial and execution of the Butcher of Baghdad, General Saddam Hussein.

What did Abolaji Adekeye say?

“Dialogues across borders and I dare say without borders.”

 It’s also basically a war, against ignorance, worldwide

Your humble servant,

CH

We Sweden

[Segun Ogungbemi]

The man has resumed duty. The debate may continue till eternity, Buhari is not deterred by our arguments. He probably has an authentic information than what the press has reported. 

Prof. Segun Ogungbemi

>> Besides, it used facilities of reputable institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge to conduct its affairs. This would have been a real scandal had Fowler claimed to have an honorary doctorate from a university, accredited or otherwise, when such was not conferred on him. That's where an issue of dishonesty can arise. In addition, he is not misrepresenting the importance of the degree; even th university, accredited or otherwise, when such was not conferred on him. That's where an issue of dishonesty can arise. In addition, he is not misrepresenting the importance of the degree; even the word "honorary" was not missing in the citation read by Femi Adesina, the presidential spokesman. As it is now, the best anyone can say: Fowler was gullible for him not to have done due diligence about the school in the first instance. Others were also gullible too. 

adialogue+...@googlegroups.com">usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

/>

[Bayo Amos]

Mr. Afolayan,

I would apologize if my comments or responses to you come across as disdainful. It's never my intention.

I think we have written extensively on this topic that I am now prepared to rest and also do something else. Whosoever now thinks Fowler is a dishonest person is free to hold such an opinion. Only that I will state the following and then hold my peace

(a) Fowler is yet to make a statement on this issue. No one can even quote what he has said or not said. He has not LIED either on oath or otherwise about anything, at least as far as this issue is concerned. I don't think he is a dishonest fellow. There is just no evidence to make that call.

(b) He will be at the senate to defend himself. I hope our senators will not say "Take a bow and go". At least one senator should be bold enough to raise the issue. I know the CV that will be given to senators will likely not contain IIU but at least let one should raise the issue so we can at least know how he got that degree.

(c) There is a grave danger in maligning a man on assumptions that do not hold water.  If we can crucify someone, on mere hearsay assumptions, and on the pretext we are holding people accountable, when clearly we can't reach such a conclusion from what is available, then other innocent citizens will easily be persecuted too, in the future.  All that's needed is for someone to think somebody is something and pronto, it sticks. 

Thanks,

Bayo.

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Ah Nigeria! T

Son of Ogun,

The trumpets and the trumpeters and all this faked hysteria about “fake degrees” and allied phenomena! As if once upon a time in Nigeria (before Lord Lugard set his good foot anywhere) there were no fake degrees (including qualifications - by whom?)  of pastors’ and prayer leaders’ qualifications, of local chiefs and of course the good breed Oxford and Cambridge degrees…

“Grandpa died last week

 And now he’s buried in the rocks

 But everybody still talks about

 How badly they were shocked

 But me, I expected it to happen

 I knew he’d lost control

 When he built a fire on Main Street

 And shot it full of holes “(Dr. D)

Lol : Albert Ayler

 

On Sunday, 23 August 2015 01:00:46 UTC+2, ogunlakaiye wrote:

Dear Bolaji,
Titles in Nigeria whether real or imaginary are only decorative. That is why I think Farooq Kperogi piece on Fowler's doctorate attire is non-issue for debate. I am, however, excited to read that your own private investigation actually showed that Goodluck Jonathan was a true holder of PhD from University of Port Harcourt. In view of your assertion, I will be very grateful if you can share with us on this forum the following information: (i) The title of Goodluck Jonathan's doctorate dissertation; (ii) Year of Registration as a doctorate candidate; (iii) Name of his doctorate supervisors; (iv) Name of his external examiner; (v) Comments/reports of the external examiner of the dissertation/thesis; (vi) Date of graduation from the University of Port Harcourt. Providing the above information, I think, will seal the mouth of Dr. Ofure Alto on his/her assault on Jonathan's academic qualification.
 

---

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2015 18:07:41 +0100
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [Facebook Post] Farooq Kperogi on Buhari's appointee and phantom degrees
From: alu...@gmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Dr.  Ofure Alto

As a lecturer in our Redemer's University, you have a particular responsibility not to bear false witness against anybody.

You wrote below that President Goodluck Jonathan's PhD was "falsified".  That is false.  Not only has the University of Port Harcourt certified it, but my own private investigation of the issue at its height (or depth) of the accusation indicated that he truly earned the PhD.

So let's stop denigrating his degree for petty political reasons, otherwise I might ask my colleague at Unilag to withdraw your own PhD degree for suspicion of discriminatory gullibility.

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

On Saturday, August 22, 2015, Ofure Aito <ofur...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mr Bayo,
First, I neither disdained the work profile of Fowler nor disregarded his work ethics. However, for such a high flier, I do expect him to have pruned the institution offering such an award and to what end? That speaks your language: gullibility...  and that is intolerable! Note also that we are experiencing a new season of accountability and probity, so, what was taken for granted yesterday may not pass the test today no matter what your record says. I was enthralled by his appointment but that minor omission in the desire for an appellation says a lot. Yes, I actually campaigned against Mr Jonathan and his falsified PhD. Obviously, we are a people titles.
Second, on Tinubu nominating candidates to meet his financial thirst, I do see a lot wrong in that. Here we campaigned for change and not for one man to control my economic contribution to the development of the State! It is the accommodation of such that built hydra-headed corrupt practices in the nation. Nigeria is owned by an appropriated 170million people. The Tinubu investment in PMB is not for the 170million Nigerians' interest. PMB was an instrument to a dream and drive. But to the man on the street, including I, PMB is a stable presence needed to drive Nigeria to the next level.

Third, if a Nigerian left the shore of home country for another and he/she was scammed by such institutions, he/she must take the blame alone without the usual passing of the blames to another by way of making room for excuses.

To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin

To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/usaafricadialogue/Zi5--HT6z4k/unsubscribe.

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin

To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Afric

...

[Ofure Aito]

To debate the righteousness of your former visitor, I will not be bated. My view is personal and you do not have to be virulent in your defence. To all your queries, I don't have to humor you. But, I will tell you that Professors Karen King-Aribisala and Theodora Adimora-Ezeigbo were my supervisors (First and Second respectively as the university tradition requires). These are fine and great Nigerian female scholars.
Have a nice day!
Ofure

Ofure O. M. Aito (PhD) (University of Lagos)
Department of English and Communications
College of Humanities
Redeemer's University, Mowe
Ogun State, Nigeria

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Ofure:

I too will not wait with bated breath for your debate on the righteousness of our esteemed former Visitor - notice the capital V.  If virulence is the characterization of my "defence", then it was not intended...but imagine if I had been truly virulent?

But Lord have mercy....Until you mentioned your two female supervisors, I had NO IDEA what your gender was - nor did I care.  But now knowing that Prof. Theodora Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo was one of them - and that she was one of FU Otuoke's guest speakers in March 2014 during our Chinua Achebe festival - I have to soften up a bit on you now :-).  I also for the first time noticed your bespectacled picture on the side of my Gmail account - and see that I must chivalrously relent.

And there you have it.  Have a wonderful week-end....that extends the "nice day" you wished me.

Bolaji Aluko

Ducking