As the February General Elections draws nearer, one of the issues that had attracted enormous attention from the public was the alleged non-existence of General Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior School Certificate.

Buhari is the Presidential Candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the polls. The ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had accused the General of refusing to fulfill that minimum requirement to get elected. It took a lot of media attention until the General finally addressed the press on the issue last Wednesday.

There are some lessons youths need to imbibe from the saga. We have a long time ahead, if God wills. Though the saga may have become a joke among the populace, let’s take some cue from it. It is something which everyone should reflect on personally.

3 LESSONS FROM THE BUHARI CERTIFICATE SAGA FOR YOUTHS
KEEP YOUR DOCUMENTS SAFE
You don’t know when any of your documents would be required to be presented in future. So, keep your documents safe always. This reminds me of a recent report about of a ninety year old man asked to bring his appointment letter of 1950 in order to be paid his pension. That’s almost the case here.

Though Buhari had his school certificate, it was obviously not presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). That gave room for those aware of the anomaly to make some mountain out it. Reports that he had sworn to an affidavit regarding the missing documents didn’t stop the rants about the matter. INEC might have admitted the affidavit as a legal document but that situation would have been prevented if the certificate was kept safe.

Irrespective of whether it’s a certificate, receipt or letter, your document is your reference point. Try keeping it safe from damage, theft and fire. You can keep your documents safe by laminating them or keeping them in a safe/bank. Scanning them and having them stored on your hard drive/online (your email, google drive) wouldn’t bad an option too. You know how much you value your jewellery? Your documents are more valuable than your jewellery. You can’t afford to lose them.

REPLACE YOUR MISSING DOCUMENTS
After much effort to at keeping your documents safe, something could still go awry. Your safe could get ravaged by some negative elements and your documents get stolen or damaged. You’ll have no choice but to replace them.

Buhari’s missing documents accounted for him swearing an affidavit. He was certain that the copies of his documents were with the Nigerian Army. His party had earlier said that those documents got missing after the 1985 military coup when his house was ransacked by soldiers. He could have requested copies of those documents from the relevant offices and they wouldn’t hesitate to provide something in lieu of the documents.

When next your documents get missing or damaged, get an affidavit and a police report to legally lay claim to that. Write to the office in charge of documentation to provide another document that could stand for the missing one. For example, where it’s your university certificate, you’ll write a later to the Registrar of your school attaching the affidavit or police report as they may require and he would provide you a replacement.

BE WELL KNOWN AMONG YOUR PEERS
You’ve got to be known for something positive among your peers. Don’t ever think you can get away with some misbehaviour forever. Your character today could haunt you in the nearest future. Those you once spited could be in a position to bring you down in future.

One of the testimonies to Buhari’s legal claims was that he wasn’t a back bencher. His contemporaries could attest to knowing him. He wasn’t one of those who just added to the population of the mass. He was even the Head Boy in his secondary school years.

You don’t have to hold an elective position to be known. Be a responsible and diligent person wherever you find yourself. Make valuable contributions where you can and avoid fomenting trouble. Together we shall reach for greater frontiers.

What other lesson can we learn from the saga?

Source: http://ibnamoo.com/3-lessons-buhari-certificate-saga-youths/

In nigeria today 90% of original document are replaceable unless there is no document in the first place. Only a forge document can not be replace unless with another forge document

I concor!