LAGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola must be a man of deep convictions. And he must have plenty of courage, too. He looked the Nigerian academic community in the face and told scholars and administrators of our universities that they have failed the nation through indiscriminate award of honorary
doctoral degrees. He did not stop there. Fashola had unflattering words for the national government in Abuja: it, too, has failed the nation by conferring national honours on all kinds of people. The occasion of Governor Fashola’s punches was the 2014 Gani Fawehinmi colloquium held at the University of Lagos. Fashola’s criticism came in the wake of The Presidency’s publication of names of over 300 persons to receive the 2014 national honours and the list included serving public officers whose sole qualification would appear that they are serving top public office holders!

Now, with the return of democracy since
1990s, the universities have turned the award of
doctorates into a bazaar. Even the Nigerian
Defence Academy (NDA) has been “conscripted”
to join the craze of conferring honorary doctoral
degrees on serving ministers and governors,
among others. The awards are conferred after
huge sums have been paid, often from the
public treasure. Rich states like my own, Akwa
Ibom, are the biggest “beneficiaries”. This is why
it is reassuring that there are exceedingly decent
public officers like Governor Fashola who can
afford to pay for such doctorates but have
resisted the madness. It has been reported that
the Lagos governor has turned down offers from
as many as eight universities. This action of his
brings to mind his principled refusal to buy an
executive jet in the name of his state’s use,
even though Lagos is far the richest state in
Nigeria.

Fashola is not against honorary doctorates or national honours. But he argues that such awards should not be given to serving public officers. They should be bestowed on citizens after they have left office and the records show they, indeed, have done well. As someone who walks his talk, Fashola last year politely rejected President Goodluck Jonathan’s offer to be given the high honour of Commander of the Federal
Republic (CFR)! This is leadership by personal example, the absence of which has been the bane of our country, as the great Professor Chinua Achebe argued eloquently in his famous treatise on the Nigerian condition, “The Problem With Nigeria”.

It is truly odd to see high public office holders charged with monumental fraud after being awarded high national honours. How do our universities feel anytime they are confronted with the fact of their honouring people who have been found guilty of gross abuse of office? And so several houses in Abuja which were acquired illegally have long been retrieved. One former public officer has been sentenced to
prison by a French court in absentia for mindboggling corruption in Nigeria. I sometimes wonder how President Olusegun Obasanjo felt when the Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, was found guilty of stupendous corruption upon the national honours he
received in office. This is why it shocked all decent human beings that Obasanjo still went ahead to confer the country’s highest national honours on incoming President Umaru Yar’Adua and incoming Vice President Goodluck Jonathan in the hopes that “they will do well”. Where in the world are national honours bestowed in expectation? Needless to state, Obasanjo himself was to become critical of both Yar’Adua and Jonathan presidencies for below average
performances.

It is tragic that our leaders and higher national institutions are helping in the devaluation of the country’s values. We thank God for people like Governor Fashola for providing a glimmer of hope; and for reminding me constantly of Dr Pius Nwabufo Charles Okigbo, with his rigour, principle, broadmindedness and foresight.

• Dr. Asuquo, a retired academic, lives in Uyo,
Akwa Ibom State.


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/opinion/columnist/184564-asuquo-crisis-in-the-temple-fashola-s-admonition

W

Why can these APC governors address a gathering without insulting or making reference to the President. Has Fashola become the attack dog for Tinubu? Is all this about impressing Tinubu to have some relevance after 2015. My humble advice for BRF is that you are too descent and good to play dirty politics. I was among those who protested in your favour when Tinubu did not want you back. You are one presidential material Nigeria has. Tinubu can make you realise but those of us who appreciate you can.

Nice one. Fashola is one of the few Nigerian leaders who have their heads screwed on correctly.

southsouthman:
Why can these APC governors address a gathering without insulting or making reference to the President. Has Fashola become the attack dog for Tinubu? Is all this about impressing Tinubu to have some relevance after 2015. My humble advice for BRF is that you are too descent and good to play dirty politics. I was among those who protested in your favour when Tinubu did not want you back. You are one presidential material Nigeria has. Tinubu can make you realise but those of us who appreciate you can.

Hey Mr. how does what fashola say insult the president? Why u tryin furiously to fan embers of politics into his lucid statement when its clear even to the blind that there is no wood in the fireplace in the first place. His statement was as clear as day and addressed systems (education and government) and not necessarily the office or person of the president. The "system" of "sharing" awards with no recourse to certain stipulated minimum criteria which Jonathan did not institute in d first instance is what Fashola took on.
Take a chill pill bro and stop filtering evry issue through ur skewed political lenses. Its nt olways Black n White...dia r Shades of Gray too!