by Kingsley Ahanonu

It is good that Buhari had been nudged, by the sensitivities of most Nigerians he seeks to lead and which have been stirred by this obstreperous deviation, to respond and clear up the mist.

Political periods, especially the electioneering, are indeed crazy
periods. Nothing more glaring and deepening has expressed this truism than the highly unnecessary fuss that has been whipped up in the past weeks.

In a critical period of the nation’s history as is provided by the
ensuing political process, wherein the people should be more concerned on far-reaching meditative engagements in the effort to deliver to themselves a beacon who would be looked upon for galvanization to cherished national status. But instead, flicking irrationalities have taken over what should have been a serious civic responsibility.

And how funny it is that the issue which seems to have taken national discourse, sidelining the pre-eminental resort to circumspection in analysis, is the baloney over General Muhammadu Buhari’s educational certificate.

It’s laughable not from the perception as to undignify the importance
of educational certificates- be it SSCE or BSc. or PhD- but basically
because of the manner by which the issue in question has been fired up more than the palpable state of the nation that should form the
fulcrum in any conscientious analysis of moments of this kind.

It is good that Buhari had been nudged, by the sensitivities of most
Nigerians he seeks to lead and which have been stirred by this
obstreperous deviation, to respond and clear up the mist. But I must
add, it was sincerely inconsequential; it wasn’t, save that it made
the political desperadoes from whose stable the bug emanated,
revelling in their failed scheming.

But for the gentlemanly disposition of GMB and his penchant for
openness and accountability, the poking scheme was highly undeserving of his decorously laced response.

This is primarily so because there was no arising need to deny GMB’s eligibility to contest the presidential elections of February 14th; whether be it from the basis of academic or other stipulated
requirements.

INEC, the governmental agency under which is saddled the
responsibilities of scrutinizing and approving the eligibility of
political office seekers, has not indicated so. By publishing the
names of Buhari alongside the other presidential contenders, the issue should have been long settled that the man is fit in all stipulated ramifications to do so.

It is highly unnecessary not only going by the adherence of the
Electoral Act, through which provisions the INEC has acted in clearing GMB but also, and principally too, because the stake of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria on this ‘controversial stir’ is clear.

For the purpose of review, the Constitution in Section 131 (d) states
inter alia:

‘A person shall be qualified for election into the office of the
president if he has been educated up to at least School Certificate
level or its equivalent’

It never stopped there, and more importantly in what could be seen as a smirk on prying assailants, who might seek to cash in on its
ambiguousness and cause political exploitation for their selfish
excitements as is the flying rampage, it offered some helpful
interpretations.

Section 318 clarifies thus:
”School Certificate or its equivalent” means

(a) a Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, or Grade II
Teachers Certificate, the City and Guilds Certificate; or

(b) education up to Secondary School Certificate level; or

(c) Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and-

(i) service in the public or private sector of the Federation in any
capacity acceptable to INEC for minimum of 10 years and

(ii) attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may be
acceptable by INEC for periods totalling minimum of one year

(iii) the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the
English language to the satisfaction of INEC and

(d) any other qualifications acceptable by INEC.

The constitution is Clear on its demand from INEC and the Presidential candidate of the APC; hence for that institution to have accepted him means he’s qualified.

But beyond the Buhari’s educational certifications which some have
taken up for conflicts, what Nigeria and Nigerians need right now is a
qualified mechanic and physician that knows their problem and can fix them of their crackling structure and restore their crumbling system.

Nigerians, vote wisely!

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Ahanonu Kingsley writes in from Owerri, Imo.

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.